The 12 Days of Steve's Secret Santa
by pizzagirl
Summary: A Secret Santa gift exchange is organized, with the aid of JARVIS, to include the Avengers & friends. Everyone is pretty excited with their 'Santees', but none moreso than Darcy. She hopes to pull off her ambitious ideas. Steve's gifts leave him amused and slightly confused, especially when he sees who is delivering them. Rated M for coarse language & reference to past violence.
1. Prologue

On Monday, at exactly 7:30 a.m., a time that Tony immediately regretted programming as soon as his phone began to chirp, a text message from JARVIS went out to the Avengers and selected others Tony considered part of their core group. Some may say core family, but Tony Stark would never be one to admit that. This text message announced that JARVIS, with the assistance from Master Stark, was inviting the person to participate in a Secret Santa gift exchange. The assignment of the Secret Santas would be done at random by JARVIS, and only JARVIS would know the Santas and Santees. Beginning the next day and running through Christmas Eve, a minimum of three gifts would be exchanged. Cost was unimportant; it was the thought that counted - this means you, Tony, was implied. A Christmas Party would occur on Christmas Eve at what was now Avengers Tower, with a meal following, where the Santas would be revealed. If the person was interested in participating, they were to reply 'yes' to the message. The message also noted that JARVIS would be available for assistance in delivering Santa gifts to a person's Santee.

Tony smiled, despite the early hour, and was glad that Pepper had suggested this. He quickly replied 'yes' to the message as he watched her walk back into the darkened bedroom, her head down with her eyes glued to her Stark phone, as her fingers were typing something. She paused and looked up at him, a smirk on her face as she nodded. So two people were in. He hoped the others would follow.

* * *

Natasha reached over and smacked Clint on the arm, shoving her phone in his face. He blinked rapidly, willing his eyes to focus. He read the message and looked around the phone at her. She quirked an eyebrow. He fumbled for his phone on the nightstand on his side of the bed, typed a reply of yes, as she did the same, and then, once the phones were put away, he pulled her back down into the bed. Pulling the covers back up, and bringing his arm around her so she was pressed close to him, he silently told her any sort of training exercise she was thinking of doing at that hour could wait until later.

_*br*_

Jane searched under the notebooks strewn on her workbench in her lab for the source of the buzzing sound. It continued to become more irritating, and she remembered asking Darcy to make her phone do that, as Jane had a bad habit of losing her phone and missing important calls. Or so Darcy said. She held her phone up triumphantly as she found it, pressing the button to make the buzzing stop, noticing she had a text message. She smiled as she read it, and replied yes. Upon further thought, she also replied yes for Thor, hoping JARVIS would recognize Thor was off-Earth at the moment, but would be back later that week. JARVIS instantly replied that he would make sure Thor would be included and brought up to date upon his return.

_*br*_

Bruce was still working in his lab when he heard his phone ring. At least that is what he thought it was doing. He picked it up absentmindedly and answered yes, not knowing his voice to text settings were on. When he didn't hear a voice saying anything, he pulled his phone from his ear, pressing a button to activate the home screen. Upon doing this, he realized what he'd done. Skimming the text message and his subsequent reply, he quietly cursed Tony. Then he cursed himself for sounding so Scrooge-like.

_*br*_

Darcy was blow-drying her hair when she thought she heard her phone buzz. If it was something important, she thought, the person would call back. She didn't just wake up with good hair - it needed taming. Shutting the blow-dryer off, she did a quick flip of her hair and walked into her bedroom to look at her phone. She saw the icon for a new text message and opened her messages folder. She looked at her last few messages from Steve, laughing at how he still didn't quite grasp how to switch between uppercase and lowercase easily. Ha, she thought, Cap writes in ALL CAPS. Then she thought, oh lord, that's something as cheesy as Coulson. Was she spending too much time around her boss at work? Shaking her head to rid her mind of that, she read the newest message. A smile slowly spread its way across her face as she typed her reply of yes. Being a Secret Santa would be fun. She quickly ranked the order of who she would want, from most desirable to least desirable, and then crossed her fingers for getting the person she really wanted as she hit send on the text. She hoped all the time she'd spent being nice to JARVIS when at the Tower would pay off.

* * *

Steve had just gotten back from his morning run when he noticed a beep and a light flashing from his cell phone. He had grudgingly started using one, although he still preferred his land line, after the attack on Manhattan. He had to admit he appreciated the convenience, but he didn't care for what he perceived as a lack of conversation among the younger generation, as he noticed people pulled out their phones everywhere, especially at restaurants. Two people could be face-to-face, but rather than talk to each other, their faces would be buried in their phones.

It had taken him a while to get used to the sensitivity and type of touch needed for the sleek phones, but once he got the hang of it, he'd had no problem figuring out some of the 'apps.' He enjoyed his tablet more, especially the painting apps, because the screen was bigger, and it was easier for him to type on. He didn't like the small keyboard on the cell phone. His fingers felt clumsy on it, and Darcy was always teasing him about getting text messages in all upper or lower case from him. He smiled at that thought as he opened the new message. He wasn't familiar with how a Secret Santa situation worked, but from what he could tell, it sounded like it could be fun. He wasn't sure if the secret part would stay secret - the team did have spies on it after all - but he thought it would be a fun way for him to enjoy his first 21st century Christmas.

Which reminded him, he'd have to talk to Darcy later about going to Rockefeller Center and seeing the tree. He wanted to see if it was like he remembered, and he knew she'd be up for joining him, as she'd been a great friend and guide to modern things to him once she and Jane had gotten to New York. She was patient with him when he had questions about pop culture, and would often join him in watching movies people suggested he watch. She also suggested movies, and he had to admit, he sometimes enjoyed those more than ones other people, usually Tony or Clint, would suggest. He also was learning she was a great listener, and on days when he was feeling down and lost in this new time, she wouldn't mind sitting and listening to some old jazz standards or watching an older movie with him. Or sometimes, he'd sit and sketch things from his past, and she'd quietly read a book, not asking about what he was drawing. He'd catch her looking, but not asking. It seemed she just knew what he needed. And he really appreciated it. He really appreciated her. Plus he thought she was quite funny. Her sense of humor was much more bawdy than he had grown up expecting from ladies, but he knew times had changed while he had been in the ice. She had a great laugh and a great smile. And a great figure, all curves.

He shook his head, walking into his bedroom. Darcy was his friend, nothing more. Right? He threw himself face first onto his bed. He knew he was clueless with beautiful women. Why couldn't more of Bucky's ease with dames have rubbed off on him?

* * *

Phil Coulson was technically only supposed to be working half-time. He was still recovering from a near-death experience. Well, two near-death experiences. Thankfully the second time, he had been outfitted in Kevlar, so it hadn't been quite so painful. Recovery this time was helped by having an assistant, although sometimes her sarcastic nature was trying. However, she was also good at cutting through the BS that was SHIELD, so when he needed things done now, it was 'on like Donkey Kong,' as she liked to say. Her background in 'scientist wrangling' came in handy when dealing with the Avengers, too. All-in-all, he thought, it could be worse. One of those near-death experiences could've stuck.

She bounded in to his office this morning without giving regard to the closed door. He both hated and admired that she did that. Both he and she knew if he didn't want her to barge in, the door would be locked.

"Hey Boss. Would you included on that early wake-up text? Because if so, and if you happen to get assigned to the person who thinks your first name is Agent, well, I may have some awesome ideas." She started to grin, and heard a snort coming from one of the chairs in front of Coulson's desk. Seeing who it was, her grin turned wicked. "Oh, boss, any collaborations here could have dangerous results, I mean, if you would allow it in that circumstance."

Phil smiled, or at least as much as he allowed himself. He had a reputation to maintain. Turning towards the man in the chair, he apologized. "Sergeant, I apologize for Miss Lewis." Darcy began to protest, but he continued. "In that the innuendo from her statement could be taken the wrong way. She was speaking of a Secret Santa gift exchange." He paused. "And Miss Lewis, if I should be assigned that person, your input would be valuable. However, I should hope that the AI would know better than that."

She grinned. "So you're in. Awesome."

_*br*_

_Author's Note: Look for the first day coming your way tomorrow (12/13)! _


	2. Day 1

**_On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... a partridge in a pear tree._**

_December 13th_

So her grand idea of getting Steve Rogers as her 'Santee' in the Stark Secret Santa, as Tony was now calling it, had happened. And she still couldn't believe her luck, if luck was what you called the jumbled ball of nerves and excitement that seemed to settle in her stomach upon receiving the text from JARVIS with her assignment. She realized she hadn't thought past the whole "get Steve for Secret Santa" to what she'd actual get as his presents.

She was still deep in thought about this as she walked off the elevator onto her floor at work, and right into someone. She looked up, ready to apologize, and grinned upon recognizing who it was. "Hi Sarge, all large and in charge."

The man groaned. "Darcy, how many times have I told you that of all the nicknames you could come up with to call me, I hate that you've latched on to that one?" He tried to look exasperated, but a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Well, you get all testy when I try to call you -," she was cut off when a glove hand covered her mouth. She frowned and tried to continue speaking.

He sighed, shaking his head. "Yes, proving your point, I know." He removed his hand from her mouth. "But I'm making progress, or so says my shrink." She laughed. He narrowed his eyes at her, which made her laugh even more. They began to walk towards her desk. "Laugh all you want."

"Oh, I will," she managed to gasp out between chuckles.

He snorted. "For someone who still isn't inclined to buy all the head shrinking mumbo jumbo I've had to participate in around here, being told I'm actually closer to the light at the end of the tunnel is something." They reached her desk, which was nestled in a quasi-cubicle outside of Coulson's office. She had her privacy, but was also able to keep a close eye on the comings and goings of those in the rest of the office. She thrust her purse at him as she took her coat off and hung it on the coat rack hidden in the corner. Returning to her desk, he gave her purse back to her, as she settled into her comfy chair. He leaned against the desk, taking in all of the little ornaments on the tiny Christmas tree that now was occupying a corner of her desk.

"You like? I put it up last night." She reached under the tree and pressed on a tiny box. The tree lit up. Some of the ornaments sparkled. He smiled, noticing some of ornaments seemed fairly intricate for being so small, when Darcy let out a squeal of excitement. He gave her an alarmed look, but she held up a figurine. "Look at this! My first present from my Secret Santa!"

He studied it, trying to figure out what it was. The head on the item shook at she moved it, her grin widening even more. "Oh my lord, this is just perfect!"

"What is it?" he finally asked.

She thrust it in his face. "A Director Fury bobblehead!" Seeing it closer, and watching the head bobble, complete with the eyepatch staring him down, he began to laugh. His laugh was infectious, and Darcy soon joined him.

* * *

That was how Phil Coulson found them a few minutes later. He wanted to give them a stern look, but seeing what Darcy was holding, he allowed himself a small smile. It was nearing Christmas after all. He nodded at them both as he made his way into his office. On his desk was a what looked like some beautiful leather wrapped in a red bow. There was a note card beside it. He picked it up and read it: A noble warrior does not enter a fight without protection. He undid the bow and picked up the leather, marveling at the intricate designs etched into it. He suspected they were similar to the markings on Mjölnir, but he couldn't be sure without comparing the two. As he unwrapped the leather further, he realized he was holding a new shoulder gun holster, likely handmade. The leather was supple between his fingers, and he smiled at the thought his 'Santa' put into this gift. He quickly slipped of his suit coat, took off his current should holster, and put on this new one. As he transferred the gun from the old holster into this new one, he wasn't sure if it was his imagination or not, but he suddenly felt much more secure in with this new holster than he ever had in the old one. Putting the suit coat back on, he sat in his desk chair and read the note card again. With a real smile, he put it in his top desk drawer and began to wade through that morning's emails.

* * *

Darcy was still enjoying her new bobblehead, giggling as bobble-Fury's head nodded. She was letting herself be easily amused, until a voice interrupted her.

"So, who did _you_ get, Darcy?" There was a smirk to his voice, as she looked at him, his hand toying with one of her mini Avengers ornaments on the tree, specifically a red, white and blue shield. She felt her face redden as he chuckled. "This whole Secret Santa thing may have gotten way more interesting."

"I thought you always said you tuned me out when I started talking about goings-on outside of this building," she shot back, raising one eyebrow. "Especially if they concerned any, what did you call it, 'matters of the heart'? Said it got too close to what you talked about with your shrink, or something." She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest. "I just think you're allergic to feelings."

"Yeah, not gonna touch that one, doll. Plus, while I may say I don't pay attention to you, it's hard to tune you out. You're like a constant buzzing, always there." He grinned as she kicked him in the shin. "And, I never know when I'll pick up good blackmail material, such as a certain crush of yours. Judging by that blush you've got going, I'm guessing he's your 'Santee.' Probably trying to woo your _tru wuv_ with your gifts." He stood up, starting to walk away. "Which is my cue to leave. Feelings and all. Plus I gotta date with a doc about my head and its contents."

"I regret ever letting you watch The Princess Bride!" He turned around, quickly tossing off a salute. Then it hit her what her presents for Steve should be. _Tru wuv_, she shook her head, true love has presents given ... on the twelve days of Christmas. She quickly counted on the calendar how many days were left until the party on Christmas Eve and saw she had just enough time to hopefully pull this off.

"Hey Sarge!" she called after him, suddenly getting another idea. "Lemme buy you lunch for being a pain earlier, okay? Stop back after your appointment?" He nodded back at her, biting back any smart remark. To complete the rest of her idea, she needed to talk to Coulson. She hoped he was in a good mood, she thought, as she walked into his office.

* * *

Bruce walked into his lab feeling refreshed for a change. He'd gotten his Secret Santa assignment, and knew that with the help of a couple of people to secure the presents he was thinking of, it'd work out okay. He flipped the switch for the light above the table on the far wall, and would have missed the items sitting on the table had he not almost set his mug of tea on top of them.

He squinted at the packages, not quite believing they were there. JARVIS hadn't notified him that anyone had disturbed his lab overnight, so it had to have been someone who had permission to come in. He sighed, not wanting to spend most of his morning running around trying to return whatever these were to whomever had left them here. That was when he noticed a note card propped up on them. He picked it up and saw it was written in neat script:

_It's not that easy bein' green  
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves  
When I think it could be nicer being red or yellow or gold  
Or something much more colorful like that  
It's not easy bein' green  
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things  
And people tend to pass you over 'cause you're  
Not standing out like flashy sparkles in the water  
Or stars in the sky  
But green's the color of Spring  
And green can be cool and friendly-like  
And green can be big like an ocean  
Or important like a mountain  
Or tall like a tree  
When green is all there is to be  
It could make you wonder why  
But why wonder, why wonder?  
I am green and it'll do fine  
It's beautiful!  
And I think it's what I want to be_

He had almost wanted to roll his eyes until he saw what was beneath the card: 4 Muppet movies (The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, The Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Muppets) and what looked to be a personalized Muppet doll. He picked up the doll, and noticed a tag on its hand. He lifted the tag up, and it said 'Bruce.' He took a deep breath, feeling his eyes tear up. The doll had on khaki pants and a purple button down. The doll also had a curly mop of hair and glasses.

He couldn't remember if he had told anyone about his affinity for the Muppets. He'd been a little worried about this gift, given the note with the song choice, and the color of the Hulk. He'd thought this could be another of those so-called funny jokes from Tony. But it was the Muppet Bruce that really sent him for a trip. He couldn't believe how thoughtful his first Secret Santa gift was, and couldn't imagine what he or she had in store for him next.

* * *

Darcy was waiting for him outside the door when he left his appointment. "Ready to roll?" she asked.

"I guess?" he answered, not entirely sure. He knew, however, that going along with whatever she had planned would result a more entertaining afternoon than he had planned.

She lead him to the elevator and soon the two were standing in one of SHIELD's large underground parking garages. He followed her over to a black sedan that was already running. He noticed for the first time that she was carrying a brown paper bag, the size of a lunch bag. She opened the back door and motioned for him to slide in. She followed, closing the door. The driver seemed to know where they were headed and began driving.

"Are you kidnapping me, Miss Lewis?" he asked after several minutes had passed. He hoped it sounded as lighthearted as he intended.

She looked at him and smirked. "Now, why would I ever do something like that?" She noticed his unease, and continued, "I know you haven't left HQ much, if at all. But I got the Boss's permission." She mustn't have sounded as convincing as she was aiming for, and added, "Seriously. All of the T's have been crossed, and I's have been dotted."

He nodded, looking out the window, watching the buildings pass by. The next few minutes passed in silence, which made Darcy a little uneasy, especially since what she was going to ask next.

"So, I figured out what I'm going to do for Steve's presents." She reached for the bag and pulled out its contents. In her hand she held a pear. "You kind of helped give me the idea in a way."

He hummed, looking at the pear. "So, I get the pear and the little tree thing, but who is that lady?"

"Mrs. Partridge, from the Partridge Family. That show from the 70s, with the singing family? Remember when you asked who Danny Bonaduce was? And I said he was on that show?" He still looked a bit confused, but nodded. "So, on the first day of Christmas, my _tru wuv_ gave to me, Mrs. Partridge in a pear with a tree in it."

He couldn't keep a straight face after hearing that and began laughing. Darcy chuckled and put the pear back in the bag. He then turned to look out the window again and noticed they were on the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Darcy, where are we going?" he asked, the laughter disappearing from his voice.

She took a deep breath. "Look, I can't actually give this gift to him, and since he doesn't live in Stark Tower, it makes it tougher to enlist JARVIS for delivering gifts - especially when they're going to be on a daily basis. And it's been over six months now, your progress reports are awesome, according to the Boss, and he agrees with me on this and even thought it was a good idea when I asked if I could ask you and ..." She looked in his eyes, which were swirling with looks of confusion and hope. She put her hand on top of his gloved, left one. "I think it'd mean a lot to me and him if you were to be the one to deliver them. I'd ride with and wait in the car, like today, of course. But only if you want to and are willing. No pressure. Really."

He was still looking out the window, the buildings becoming more familiar to him. "I ... I don't know. I mean, so much time has passed." He looked down at where her hand was on top of his. She gave it a car stopped in front of a tall brick building. He turned to look out the window at it, not sure if he remembered it or not. He then took his hand that Darcy had a hold of and reached for the brown bag.

She smiled. "He's in the penthouse, which really isn't as swanky as it sounds. More like a big open-air studio thing. Beside the point." She pulled out a card from her coat pocket and gave it to him. "Door code. Thank you and good luck."

Clutching the bag in his hand, he quickly crossed the street and entered the apartment lobby. He punched in the door code and rode the elevator to the top. When the doors slid open and he exited, he took a few deep, reassuring breaths before raising his right hand to knock at the apartment door. He waited a few moments and didn't hear any noises. Maybe he wasn't home. He was just about to turn back towards the elevator, leaving the brown bag at the door as Darcy had included a note card explaining the gift, when he heard locks unlocking and the doorknob turning.

"Can I help ..." Steve's voice trailed off as he noticed the man turn around to face him fully. The hair was longer, a bit shaggier, and his eyes looked a little more world wearier, but he'd recognize that person anywhere. "Bucky?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

A nod. "Hey Steve." His voice cracked halfway through, and his jaw muscles clenched and unclenched.

"How?" Steve had put a hand on the doorframe when he'd opened the door, and now he was leaning heavily on the doorframe, as if the super-strength he had could no longer support him.

He shrugged. "It's, ah, a long story." He held out the brown bag, which Steve took gingerly. "Um, probably one that, uh, will be better explained with some, ah, alcohol." He nodded at the bag. "Better open it."

Steve reluctantly tore his attention away from Bucky, his best friend that he hadn't seen in almost 70 years standing in his hallway, to the brown bag in his hands. He reached in and pulled out a pear and a note card. He quickly read the note card and studied the pear. "Mrs. Partridge?"

Bucky chuckled. "Yeah, it's some television show reference. I don't know that I quite get it either." He ran a hand through his hair nervously.

"So you know who my Secret Santa is?"

Bucky nodded. "Can't tell ya, though. But I have somehow been tapped to be your delivery person, so, um, that means I'll be seeing you tomorrow." He motioned to the elevator with his head. "My ride's waiting and all."

"This story, we can maybe grab a beer or something with tomorrow's delivery?" Steve asked tentatively.

The corner of Bucky's mouth turned up slightly. "I'll see if I can work that into my schedule." The longer he was here, the more relaxed he felt. But he didn't want to overstay his welcome and knew he needed to ease back into this. "Don't go snooping around for things beforehand, on me or your Secret Santa, punk."

A small smile appeared on Steve's lips. "Give me some credit, jerk."

Bucky smiled fully now, and with a nod, turned and walked to the elevator.

Steve re-read the note, remembering the '_tru wuv_' phrase from a movie he'd watched with Darcy. But he remembered her also saying a couple other of his teammates liked that movie. He wondered if he'd figure out who his Secret Santa was before Christmas Eve?

* * *

Darcy was answered some emails on her phone when the car door opened, and he got in. She looked up to see him smiling, probably one of the more genuine smiles she'd seen on him since she'd met him.

"So will you let me call you Bucky now?" She grinned.

He snorted. "We'll see."

_*br*_

__

Author's Note: Many thanks to everyone who has favorited and followed this story! Hope you enjoyed Day 1!


	3. Day 2

**_On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... two turtle doves ..._**

_December 14th_

Clint walked into his and Natasha's suite following that morning's workout. He was supposed to have been testing out some new arrows Tony was developing, only Tony was nowhere to be found, which wasn't out of the ordinary. Clint was surprised Tony had agreed to the early time, to be perfectly honest, so Clint had made backup plans to put in some time at the gym with Tasha. She had been following him, and was about to turn to look for her when he spotted two objects with bows on their large sofa.

"JARVIS, who has been in our room?"

"I have no record of any unauthorized access, Agent Barton," the AI replied.

Clint's brow furrowed. He looked around the rest of the living room for items out of place, and then checked the windows for anything seeming off. He didn't seem to be finding anything when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped around to find Natasha standing behind him, a look of confusion on her face.

"There's something on the couch. I think someone broke in?" he explained.

She strode over to the couch, shaking her head as the corner of her mouth quirked up. "Normally I'd be inclined to agree, but you do remember that the Secret Santa thing started yesterday?"

Following her to the couch, he smacked himself on the forehead. Then he took a look at what was on the couch - two stuffed animals, well, foxes to be more precise. Robin Hood and Maid Marion from the Disney version of Robin Hood. Across Robin's lap looked to be some sort of armguard, along with a card, and there was a small envelope in Maid Marion's arms with Natasha's name on it. He groaned.

"I think they're cute. I've always preferred this movie version," Natasha said, reaching for the small envelope. She motioned for him to take his card. He picked it up along with the armguard.

_Robin Hood and Black Widow_

_Walkin' through the forest  
Laughin' back and forth  
At what the other has to say  
Reminiscin', this-'n'-thattin'  
Havin' such a good time  
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally  
Golly, what a day_

Never ever thinkin' there was danger in the water  
They were drinkin', they just guzzled it down  
Never dreamin' that a schemin' Loki and his Chitauri  
Was a-watchin' them an' gatherin' around

Robin Hood and Black Widow 

_Fightin' through the forest  
Thumpin' menaces, dodgin' trees  
An' tryin' to save the day  
Contemplatin' nothin'  
But making' finally winnnin' it  
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally  
Golly, what a day  
Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally  
Golly, what a day_

_Oo-de-lally, Oo-de-lally_

_Golly, it'll be even easier doin' this with a new, improved armguard -_

_More protection, more flexibility, more everything_

_Oo-de-lally!_

He was smiling as he finished reading, and Natasha was snickering, too, as she'd read over his shoulder. He looked at her expectantly, and she obliged him by opening the envelope. Inside were two tickets to that evening's performance of The Nutcracker by the NYC Ballet at Lincoln Center. Clint noticed her cheeks flushing, and looked at what she was holding. He saw her reach back inside and pull out a delicate silver necklace with a small charm on it. The charm was in the shape of two pointe shoes.

She looked up at him, smiling one of her rare genuine smiles, and if he wasn't mistaken, her eyes were a little teary. She'd never admit it, though. "Got plans for tonight?"

He put one arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his embrace. "Guess we do now."

* * *

Darcy re-read the latest text message she'd received from Steve and laughed. **NEED HELP W/TONY'S SS GIFT. HELP!** It was immediately followed-up with **ss = secret santa not german schutz-staffel, fyi.** She quickly replied, **Can help, & gotcha, but you never know w/him ;)**. She sat her phone on her desk and went back to reviewing recently submitted paperwork before passing it along to Coulson. This wasn't her favorite part of the job, reviewing paperwork, but it was one that made her boss's job easier, so that made her feel good. Her phone buzzed with a new text just as someone approached her desk.

"Well, if it isn't my second favorite walking anachronism!" She grinned.

He rolled his eyes. "You can go with Bucky. I know I didn't give you a real yes or no yesterday, but you're getting one now."

"Isn't it my lucky day, Bucky! What can I do you for?" She glanced down at her phone, opening the new text. **lol, true. can you help tomorrow sometime?** She smiled.

"Oooh, who ya talkin' to?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively."Last I remember you saying, Steve still isn't so smooth with pretty ladies."

She shook her head. "No, he's not. And while that usually doesn't work for me ..." She paused, letting out a contented sigh. He chuckled. "Lord listen to me. Practically swooning."

"That was swooning?" His eyes sparkled with amusement.

She shrugged. "For me, that's as damn close as it'd get. I mean, look." She handed him her phone, letting him look at the last few texts. He read them quickly, and laughed at Steve's clarification of 'SS.' "Did you guys see Citizen Kane before going overseas?"

He gave her a puzzled look. "Disregarding you abrupt change of subject, I believe we did see that. Probably one of the last films we caught, actually. Why do you ask?"

She typed a reply. **Am free whenever. Will help u find Tony's Rosebud.** Before she hit send, she showed it to Bucky. "I ask, only because I wanted to make sure he'll get this reference."

"Oh, I think he will." He smiled, watching her send the message, noticing the light flush of her cheeks as she continued to look at things on her phone. He made a point of trying to bring up Darcy when he was talking to Steve in the next few days, trying to gauge his reaction. He had a sneaking suspicion this crush of Darcy's wasn't one-sided.

"Also, ready for my next delivery, ma'am, if you are," he said, tossing her a sloppy salute with a wink. She grinned at him before rolling to chair over to the mini-fridge near the back of her quasi-cube. She reached into the top freezer part and pulled out two festively-decorated boxes, one with a card attached.

"Here you go. Did you want me to come with today?" She watched his reaction carefully.

He took a deep breath before replying, as he knew Steve would want to have a more thorough conversation today. "Nah, I should be fine. If something comes up, I have your number. Steve and I have some stuff we need to work out, good and bad, so it'll probably be a long delivery."

She nodded solemnly. "Cool, cool. Just don't let him eat both pies." He looked at the boxes and then back up at her, giving her a small smile before leaving.

* * *

Steve was sitting at an old drafting table that he'd started to use as a sketching table. He'd put it in the southeast corner of his apartment, as he thought the light was best there. He had stocked up on several different sketchbooks of different types of paper depending on what types of pens, pencils or other drawing tools he wanted to use. He was waiting to use his box of pastels for the spring, as it had been a while since he'd seen tulips and daffodils sprouting. But he had gone through a couple of sets of colored pencils and was now experimenting with watercolor pencils, which required a different type of paper. He still preferred graphite pencils and charcoal, but he liked mixing things up. It kept things fresh.

Currently, he was working on a charcoal sketch of Darcy. The two of them had been walking through Prospect Park a couple of weeks ago one afternoon when they had neared the statue of Abraham Lincoln holding papers in one hand, and pointing at them with the other, a stern look on his face. Darcy had immediately looked at Steve, then looked back at the statue, placing a hand on her heart, feigning adoration and amazement while looking up at Lincoln. Her mouth had opened slightly, but one corner had quirked up, letting Steve know he was in on the joke. It was that moment had was attempting to capture in the sketch because to him, that was Darcy - willing to find wonder in everyday things, but always willing to let you in on the secret fun if there was any. He was having a difficult time on her full mouth, to get the curve of her lips just right. He also couldn't manage to get the twinkle in her eye right, either. He wasn't ever planning on showing this to her, as this drawing was just for him, as least that was his plan. But that didn't mean he shouldn't strive to get it right.

He was so caught up in the shading he was working on that he nearly jumped out of his chair when he heard a knock at his door. He wiped his charcoal-covered hands on his jeans as he went to answer it. Standing on the other side was Bucky holding two boxes.

"Another delivery for Captain Rogers," Bucky said softly.

Steve smiled. "C'mon in Buck." He moved aside. "Sorry it's kind of a mess."

Bucky looked around, not noticing any real mess, and chuckled. "Yeah, big mess." He noticed Steve still wiping his hands and gave a small smile. "Still haven't found a way to draw with charcoal without getting it all over your hands pal?"

Steve shrugged. "You'd think someone would've come up with a way in the last 70 years, but instead they spent time inventing things like cell phones, computers and the internet."

Bucky chuckled. "Priorities." He set the boxes on a coffee table in front of nearby couch. "Better get to these."

Steve reached for the card: _On the second day of Christmas, Steve's tru wuv gave to him, two turtle pies made with Dove ice cream (aka two turtle doves)._ He grinned. "I think we may have gotten ourselves some ice cream pie, if you're up for it. And I have some liquor in my kitchen. I'm sure we can find something that'll go with this; if not, there's always beer."

Bucky smiled back. "You've always been the man with the plan, even without all the fancy star spangles." Steve clapped a hand on his shoulder and lead him into the kitchen.

_*br*_

Several drinks, and both pies, later, Bucky and Steve were back in his living room, relaxing on the couch. Bucky had started to tell Steve how he'd been found.

"So you were frozen, too?"

Bucky nodded. "Cryogenically. I was pulled out for a few months when they needed me and then put back when I completed my 'mission,' I guess." He shrugged.

Steve's eyes widened. "You guess? And who are they?" His grip tightened on his bottle of beer, and Bucky was afraid he'd crack the glass.

"Steve, remember what I said when I started telling this - everything's been done, so you getting angry now won't help. Please let me just tell you without me having to worry that you're going to break that bottle, or punch a hole in a wall or something. Believe me, I've been angry enough for the both of us."

Steve sighed. "I'm sorry Bucky. It's a lot to take in. And you've obviously had some help dealing. Please continue, and I'll keep my questions to a minimum." He set his beer bottle on an end table.

He pulled his gloves off, exposing his left hand, allowing Steve to see part of his bionic arm. He was still wearing a long-sleeved henley, He saw Steve's eyes look down at it, but true to word, he kept silent.

"Things are still somewhat fuzzy for me, as every time I was pulled out of that cryogenic stasis, I was 'reprogrammed,' so to speak. SHIELD's best shrinks, docs and even telepaths have worked on me and with me to try and clear things up, and things are much clearer than when they found me six months ago, but they aren't sure if everything will ever be clear. And to be honest, some of the things I remember doing, even though it wasn't me in control in a way, I don't know if I want fully clear." He paused, taking a long pull from his beer.

"When I, ah, fell," he winced, and saw Steve close his eyes in pain, "I guess some Russians found me. The first thing I remember after that is waking up in some yellowing lab with this." He held up his left arm and wiggled his fingers. "It's bionic. And this isn't the original. SHIELD had someone, a Stark, build a new one. I remember some people talking in a language I didn't know. I don't recall much after that, as things start to get fuzzy. They probably sent me out on missions. I was called the Winter Soldier."

Steve let out a quick breath. "I've heard that name before." Bucky looked at him quizzically. "Not from anything to do with SHIELD or Avengers-related, but one of my teammates, Natasha, had mentioned it in passing."

Bucky frowned. "Natalia. That was her name when I knew her. I think I trained her. At some point, I was associated with the Red Room. Like I said, so many things are fuzzy. Bits and pieces are clear, and sometimes things become clearer later on. She has red hair?" Steve nodded. "Then that's her. Black Widow. We had a couple of missions together."

"Geez." Steve ran a hand through his hair. Even though he couldn't get drunk, he took a swig from his beer. "Buck, at this point, you don't have to rehash your missions, and as far as I'm concerned, you don't ever have to, if you don't want. But, how'd SHIELD find you?"

That deserved another pull from Bucky's beer. "Agent Coulson. Apparently SHIELD heard about some sale involving arms dealers or what not, and included in that sale was, um, me."

"You?" Steve squeaked. He grabbed a pillow to squeeze after he set his beer back on the end table. Bucky was relieved about that.

"After the Soviet Union's whole collapse, I hadn't been used in a mission in many, many years. So some underground group found where I'd been stored and decided to make a profit. Coulson had been recovering from some stabbing -."

"Loki," Steve interrupted.

"All right," Bucky continued. "But this was supposed to be a simple sale. SHIELD, through Director Fury, had set up some sort of dummy account for him to make the buy. I guess to the world, Agent Coulson was dead, so they thought he'd be the perfect person to run the op. What they didn't count on was the seller deciding to activate me to give the buyers a look at the merchandise in action. The buyers didn't know the right way to wake me up, though. And to be honest, pal, I don't even know it myself." He chuckled darkly. "So I guess things went haywire. And by things, I mean me. Lots of people ended up hurt. Coulson somehow - he won't say how - managed to subdue me, and extracted me back to the US and SHIELD. Where I've been since." He leaned back into the couch, relaxing a bit as he picked at the label on beer bottle.

Steve was quiet for a few moments, taking everything in. No wonder it was quite some time before they'd been told the truth about Coulson, and when they finally saw him again, he looked worse for the wear.

"I guess I owe Coulson a huge thank you," he finally said, looking at Bucky out of the corner of his eye.

Bucky snorted. "I already signed his trading card that you and I were both on. You didn't leave me a lot of space."

Steve gave him a half-smile. "I'll try to do better in the future." He paused. "So besides the medical people, Fury and Coulson, who else knows you're back?"

"I don't think the Stark who built the arm knew who it was for, so just Darcy, I think." He watched for Steve's reaction.

Steve's eyebrows shot up, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Lewis? As in Coulson's assistant Darcy Lewis?"

"That's the one. Blue eyes, chocolate brown hair, pouty lips, nice rack." He smirked as he saw Steve's face grow redder.

"They're more blue-greenish," Steve replied quickly. Bucky raised an eyebrow at this. "And, ah, Miss Lewis is very pretty." Oh, Bucky liked where this was going, but just as he was about to press Steve further, Steve continued, "But you're changing the subject."

Bucky sighed. "Fine. But you know we'll get back to that sometime. Only a handful of people know I'm back. Miss Lewis, as you say, has been helping me get caught up on things, much like how she says she's been helping you. I'm still seeing a shrink, and as you can tell, slowly working my way back into the world with people."

"By helping with this Secret Santa?" Steve teased.

"I'm not at liberty to divulge what I do and do not know about that. All I can say is that I've been tasked with delivering items. I'm as surprised as you are with what you've gotten." He took one last drink of his beer and set it on the coffee table as he stood up. "And with that, I need to be making my way home."

Steve stood, too. "Until tomorrow?" Bucky nodded. The two walked toward the door. "And Bucky? Thank you. For telling me all of that. I know it wasn't easy, and I'm sure I'll be saying I'm sorry until I'm blue in the face, but I truly am. Sorry, that is. For all of it."

Bucky blinked a few times. "Steve, none of it was your fault. I was the one who did things. And now I'm just trying to figure out how to make them right, if I can. But thank you for listening." He paused and then reached out to give Steve a quick hug. "I've missed ya, pal."

"I'm glad you're back, Buck," Steve replied quietly.

Bucky stepped back and with a nod, walked out the door and to the elevator.

Steve closed the door to his apartment and found his cell phone. There was one thanks he could send over text message. **thanks for helping get my best friend back.** He got a quick reply. **That was all Coulson. I just answer Qs & make him watch TV/movies.** He smiled upon reading this. He knew she didn't realize how important just doing that was. He replied. **sometimes that is all it takes. see you tomorrow.**

* * *

Darcy was cuddled under a blanket on her couch watching 'White Christmas' for the umpteenth time on AMC, even though she owned it on Blu-Ray when she received the texts. She was happy to know Bucky's delivery and subsequent visit went well. She was even happier to receive the last text. Maybe she needed to schedule movie time with Steve to watch this movie?

* * *

_Author's Note: You guys, I'm so happy that everyone is reading and enjoying this - I can't thank everyone enough! I've also got to thank __**TrickPhotography**__ for being so encouraging when I was trying to decide whether to write this, and for the 'shout out' over at her fabulous holiday story, __Baby, It's Cold Outside__. Worth a look, hint, hint! Happy reading!_


	4. Day 3

**_On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... three French hens ..._**

_December 15th_

There were many items on the list of gifts on the 12 Days of Christmas that Darcy struggled to figure out how to make work for Steve, but the first one that stumped her was three French hens. Sure, she could find a French restaurant that had some chicken dish and send him there, but he liked going to new restaurants and new places with someone he knew. While Bucky was someone he knew, and he'd likely be there "delivering" the gift, well, Bucky was still adjusting to just hanging out with Steve. And she couldn't go with, for fear that she'd slip and give something away about upcoming Secret Santa gifts.

Which lead her to another idea. That fall, she and Steve had been driving around Brooklyn on his motorcycle, as he was pointing out places he remembered and telling her how much they'd changed. She knew he'd put off doing some of that until someone was with him, as recalling stories about some of the places left him feeling quite sad. When they passed a place a name caught her eye - it just said 'Egg.' She tugged on his sleeve, and when he was able, he pulled the bike over to park. The two walked back to Egg and found out it was a restaurant that seemed to specialize in breakfast. There, she'd had some of the best French toast she'd ever eaten. Steve, who just loved food in general, had loved the place as well. She knew that he did because the two had gone back to eat there a few other times, which in Steve-speak meant that he liked it. He didn't always go back to restaurants he thought were just okay.

So, she figured, if she couldn't find three actual French hens, maybe she could get three slices of French toast, which are made with eggs, which come from hens. "Bingo," she said softly and smiled. She loved when she got logic to work with her rather than against her. She had texted Bucky late Friday night initially to make sure things had gone okay with the delivery and everything else, and when he'd replied it had, she told him about her idea for Day 3.

And that was how Steve's _tru wuv_, via delivery person Bucky, sent him to Egg for breakfast for three modern day French hens.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Steve invited Darcy over to help him come up with ideas for Tony's present. As she rode the elevator up to his apartment, she fussed with her hair, trying to make the waves cooperate. She still wasn't sure if Steve had any more than friendly feelings towards her, and she didn't think now was the time to talk about her 'matters of the heart' with Bucky. She'd give him until Monday at least.

She reached his floor and knocked on his apartment. He opened the door, greeting her with a warm smile, his blue eyes sparkling. He was wearing a pair of khakis with a blue and green checked plaid shirt over a white t-shirt, tucked in of course, the sleeves rolled slightly up. The shirt, a particular favorite of hers, made his eyes even bluer. She had been expecting casual Steve, but then remembered she'd sent him out for breakfast that morning - you can take the man from the 40s, but not the 40s from the man. Going out meant he didn't wear his casual clothing out of the apartment.

Stepping inside, she shrugged her coat off, which he immediately took from her. She sighed. "Steve, how many times do I have to remind you, you don't have to take my coat? I've been over here enough times that I know where I can put it." She turned and watched him put it in a closet near the door.

He shrugged, still smiling. "I know, I know. Sorry I still have manners."

She grinned. "I see my lessons on sarcasm have been working." She made a fist and pressed it to her chest. "I'm so proud." She couldn't help but feel a little smug at the way his eyes followed her hand to her chest and lingered a little longer than they should before meeting her eyes again.

"If that helps you sleep at night, then congratulations." He walked over to his couch, sitting down and patting a spot next to him. She followed and sat down. He was apparently in quite a good mood, so she assumed the breakfast went well.

"Is this some sort of pre-gaming thing, where you channel the person you want to buy a gift for?" she teased. She leaned her right arm on the back of the couch so that she was facing him, and noticed that he mirrored her actions. She suddenly wanted to scoot a little closer, but she wasn't sure how he'd take it.

He rolled his eyes at her. "Eh, just in a good mood. I've been getting some pretty great gifts for this whole Secret Santa deal, plus my best friend is back. And then this morning, my gift came early."

"Oh?" She was careful to keep her voice neutral. She knew that he'd mentioned the restaurant to others, or she thought he had, so she didn't think the location would give her away.

He nodded, grinning lazily. "Remember that breakfast place we found that one time when we were out on my bike?" It was her turn to nod. "That's where I had three French hens today. Bucky loved the place, too. He's enjoying the benefits of being the one who delivers the gifts. At least so far." He chuckled.

"Well that's awesome, Steve. Seriously. Fun presents and enjoying them with Bucky? Double awesome." As she said this, she slid a little closer to him. He didn't seem to notice or mind.

"It is, isn't it?" He mulled this thought over for a few moments, and Darcy realized she hadn't seen him this at ease in, well, a long time, if ever. It was nice to see him this way. Then he snapped out of his own thoughts and settled his gaze on her. "What about you? Have you gotten anything yet?" As he said this, he motioned towards her with his right hand, tapping her slightly on the knee that she had tucked under herself. She felt herself blush. Instead of bringing his hand back, he let his fingers rest there.

"Well, just one thing. But it's pretty fantastic. You'll have to stop by my office to see it." She smiled shyly, contemplating placing her free hand on top the one partially resting on her knee.

"Not even a clue as to what it is?" His tongue darted out quickly to wet his lips, and she almost lost all train of thought. Was he doing this on purpose, she wondered. She didn't think so, as he always said he was terrible with women, and she'd seen proof positive that he wasn't lying. So she just attributed it to his good mood and that he felt comfortable with her.

She shook her head. "You'll just have to wait and see." She finally went for it and placed her hand on top of his, interlacing her fingers with his. He didn't make any immediate move to pull his hand back, and instead moved it closer so his thumb could begin to rub circles on the back of her hand.

They sat that way for several minutes, neither one saying anything, but both kept large smiles on their faces.

"So," he said softly, "when I invited you over, this wasn't necessarily what I'd had in mind." He had scooted closer to her, bringing his other arm around her.

She looked up at him from where she'd rested her head on his shoulder, smirking. "I was going to say, I'd be pretty impressed if it was, Mr. I-Can't-Talk-To-Pretty-Dames. Unless that whole thing was an act. Or, unless you don't want to be doing this." She pulled a little further away from him, wondering if she'd misinterpreted something. Oh god, had she screwed something up?

He shook his head, chuckling. "No, no, I, ah, definitely want to keep, uh, doing this." To further prove his point, the hand on her shoulder worked it's way up her neck and began massaging her scalp. "And it's not an act. I truly have no clue what I am doing or why today of all days something shifted. Maybe it was the French toast. Or I don't know. But I'm rambling. Because you're a pretty dame and ..."

She grinned. "Just shut up and kiss me already." He smiled back at her and leaned forward, his lips meeting hers in a sweet, simple kiss.

He pulled back, not quite believing what had just happened. "Um, not to totally ruin the moment, but there was supposed to be talk about a present?"

She grimaced. "Yeah, kinda did, but honestly, I really think you should go total Rosebud."

"As in Citizen Kane Rosebud-Rosebud?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

She nodded. "I can't really imagine Howard and Maria taking young Tony sledding, can you?"

He looked at her, a slow smile spreading across his face, as he pulled her in tighter. "You, Darcy Lewis, are a genius."

"Glad somebody around these parts finally realizes it," she said, grinning.

* * *

_Author's Note: Thanks again to all those who have taken the time to read this holiday story. To those who have commented, it means a lot to me that you've taken the time to do so, and if I haven't replied yet, it's coming! Hope you all enjoy Day 3!_


	5. Day 4

**_On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... four colly birds ..._**

_December 16th_

Jane had called Darcy and asked her over to the Tower for Sunday morning brunch. Darcy, realizing that it had been a while since the two had hung out, and still in a good mood from the night before, happily agreed. It'd also give her a chance to drop that day's gift off with Bucky, who'd given her a shit-eating, knowing smirk as he'd accepted the wrapped package. Because she was in a rush, she stopped herself from making a sarcastic comment and continued on her way. She was still puzzling over whether he smirk meant he somehow heard from Steve about their afternoon, or if her face gave it away when the elevator reached the common floor of the Tower where they'd be eating.

Stepping out onto the floor, she smelled bacon frying, but noticed no one sitting at the table. She was about to text Jane, when she heard noise in the kitchen. Walking there, she saw Thor manning the stove. He had the top part of his hair pulled back and was wearing an apron that said 'Kiss the Cook,' and was working on a pan of scrambled eggs. Upon hearing her enter, he turned to face her, a broad smile on his face. "DARCY!" He gathered her in a tight hug, as if he hadn't seen her in ages, when in reality it had only been a little over a week since she'd last seen him. While some people found Thor's presence overbearing, she found it endearing. She was always endlessly amused that this large, strong Asgardian prince had fallen for Jane, her super smart, but super small friend.

"Did I beat everyone else?" she asked after Thor let her go. She went to the other side of the counter to sit at a stool, allowing her to continue to talk to Thor as he cooked without getting in his way.

He shook his head, chuckling. "No, not really. Jane was on her way when she was summoned by JARVIS to her lab. I am hoping that she did not get distracted by science while there. I have not yet invited the others."

"Cool, cool. So should I assume that just Tony, Pepper and Bruce are joining us?" While the rest of the team, minus Steve, lived here, Clint and Natasha's comings and goings were always random. Some of that had to do with missions they still went on for SHIELD, but the rest was chalked up to Clint and Natasha being Clint and Natasha.

Thor nodded and looked at the ceiling. "JARVIS, could you please alert the others that brunch is ready, and please let Jane know that Darcy is here?"

"Right away, Prince Thor," the AI replied. Thor let out a sigh and Darcy giggled. She assumed that Tony had something to do with that greeting. Shortly, the rest of the group began to trickle into the kitchen area, some looking more awake than others. Tony shuffled to an oversized coffee machine with a huge thermos, and Bruce was carrying a mug that she suspected carried tea. Pepper was perfectly dressed, even for a casual Sunday meal, looking the most awake of all, and Jane hurried in, trying not to be last, but not succeeding. She noticed that two of them were carrying envelopes, Jane and Tony, and Pepper was carrying a wrapped box.

"If any of us get a Secret Santa present, we bring them to breakfast so everyone can open them together," Pepper explained, seeing Darcy's curiosity. Thor was now placing the food on serving trays, and Bruce was helping him bring them over to the table.

Jane came over to Darcy, who was still on the stool, and threw her arms around her in a big hug. "Darcy! It feels like it's been forever since you've been over here! Is Coulson keeping you too busy?"

Darcy smiled, standing and leading Jane over to the table, where the two took seats next to each other. Darcy's stomach had started growling. "Not him," she began, then mockingly glared at Tony, "but moreso him. Explosions mean more paperwork."

Tony rolled his eyes as he sat down, a heaping plate full of scrambled eggs in his hand. "Explosions mean innovations." He picked up a slice of bacon and took a bite. Pepper had pulled out a plate full of fresh cut fruit and set it down on the table before sitting in the chair next to Tony.

Thor, seated on the other side of Jane, picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "Are you going to open your presents now?" His smile looked like those of little kids on Christmas morning. Darcy wondered if he had that same smile each morning when there were Secret Santa presents to open, and if it was even bigger when a present was his.

Pepper, Tony and Jane exchanged a quick glance before silently agreeing to open their gifts. Jane opened hers first. Three things fell out. The first was a card, and as she read it, a soft smile played at her lips. Then she looked at the second piece of paper. Her jaw dropped. Her cheeks flushed as she looked at the third. By now, the entire table was waiting for her to say what she'd received.

"I, ohmygosh, this is just, wow." Jane couldn't speak in complete sentences. Thor and Darcy looked at each other before looking down at what Jane was holding. Thor let out a breath when he saw the second card.

"Yggdrasil," he breathed.

Darcy grinned. "You're getting a tattoo, huh?" She elbowed Jane slightly, who looked at her friend, grinning back.

"Apparently I am. I've always wanted another. Isn't it beautiful?" She turned to look at Thor. He smiled sweetly, looking at her, and nodded.

Tony cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention. Darcy rolled her eyes at him. "If you haven't decided on a place -."

"There's a place and a couple of times suggested for an appointment included," Jane replied, interrupting him.

Tony continued, unfazed, "I have been working on modifying the repulsors to be used at a lower setting to be used for cauterizing, and it could also be used for tattooing."

Bruce let out a huge sigh, running his hand over his face as he groaned. Jane smiled politely, her way of silently saying thanks, but no thanks.

"Tony, why don't you open your card?" Pepper suggested, trying to alleviate the awkwardness.

He obliged, eagerly ripping the envelope open. Inside was a simple card that just said Merry Christmas. He opened the card, which read 'Go into the living room.' Puzzled, he stood up and walked over to what was considered the living room of the common floor. Leaning against one of the couches was what looked like, to Tony's untrained eye, a clipper sled with a big red bow on it. Nestled in the bow was a small white rose, not quite a bud and not quite opened. He started laughing.

The others quickly joined him, Pepper standing next to him, her hand gently rubbing his back. She couldn't tell if this was good or bad laughter. Darcy, meanwhile, was beside herself with glee - Steve had pulled off this gift perfectly. And she was pretty sure the laughing was a good thing. She could hear Jane whispering to Thor about the sled, when Bruce came up near her.

"So we're going with he likes this, right?"

She turned to face him, noticing his wry smile. "That's my thought." She faced the sled again, raising her voice, "Yo Pepper! You gonna open your gift?"

Pepper whirled around sharply to face her, the hardened expression on her face softening when she saw Darcy and Bruce's amusement. "Yeah, I suppose I should," she answered, looking at the box still in her hand. Tony's laughter was dying down, as he watched her unwrap the box. Taking out several handfuls of packing peanuts, which she threw on the floor much to Tony's dismay, she pulled out a rubberized Iron Man doll. When she gave it a squeeze, it's arc reactor, gold face mask, and hand repulsor beams popped out a bit. This caused her to start laughing. Tony frowned at first, but then started chuckling himself.

Thor, looking confused, turned to Jane. "I do not understand this. Is this a toy someone would give to a child or a pet?"

Jane giggled. "No, not really. It's a modified version of what is called a 'stress ball.' It's what someone can squeeze when they are feeling stressed to relieve tension." She heard Bruce and Darcy start snickering at her explanation. Darcy had pulled out her phone to take a picture, as she knew Steve would have loved to see this in person.

Thor looked back at Pepper and Tony, studying this stress ball. "Then it seems appropriate, this shape of this stress ball." He grinned, as everyone burst out laughing at this.

* * *

Bucky had asked Steve is there was a decent diner near his place where the two could meet for lunch. Steve, being a huge fan of diners, had rattled off a list of two or three. Bucky picked one at random and was waiting in a booth for Steve to join him. He had the prettily wrapped box sitting in front of where Steve would sit. There was a black bow on top, with a cream colored card attached to it. Something told him the size of the box meant there was no food today.

He heard the bells jingle on the door, and then Steve was sliding in across from him, a lazy smile on his face. He looked down at the box before looking up at Bucky with a raised eyebrow. "Before or after we eat?"

Bucky shrugged. "I just deliver 'em. Makes no difference to me. Nothing was leaking from it, so I'm guessing we don't have to worry about it melting."

"Always good to have you watching my back, Buck," Steve said wryly, untying the bow.

Bucky rested his left arm on the back of his side of the booth and picked up the cup of coffee the waitress had poured just before Steve had arrived. "This smartass thing, Steve. I'm liking it." He took a sip of the coffee, trying to maintain an innocent look on his face as he enjoyed the redness that appeared on his friend's face.

Steve carefully set aside the bow as he set to work opening the envelope. He raised one of his eyebrows as he partially glanced at Bucky as he took the note card out. "I've always been sarcastic. Never quite knew when to shut my mouth, remember? Resulted in you pulling me out of a few fights."

Bucky set the coffee cup back down, running a finger around the rim absently. "Well, there's running your mouth because people were being jerks, and then there's spitting out a well-time quip. Not saying that you never were one for sarcasm before, Steve, just that maybe you haven't lost your touch or maybe you've been spending time around someone else who is a smartass and it's been rubbing off on you?"

Just as Steve was about to reply, and Bucky took great pleasure in how the redness in Steve's face had spread to his ears, the waitress appeared to take their orders. Steve ordered quickly, but Bucky did his best to let his order drag out some, spending a little time flirting with the older waitress, turning on some of old-fashioned charm that had sat unused for so long. He could hear Steve's foot tapping under the table, so he smiled sweetly at the waitress and finished his order.

"I'm not sure if I like what you're implying, especially if it's directed towards Darcy. I thought we had talked about this yesterday," Steve said, his jaw clenching a bit.

Bucky shrugged, taking another sip of his coffee. "You talked, I listened." Setting the cup down, he sat up a bit straighter as he refilled it from the coffee pot sitting at the edge of the table, and put both hands on either side of the cup. He sighed. "Look, I'm not trying to imply anything negative. And Darcy is a 'swell gal,' as you'd say. And let's be honest, is it the teasing here making you blush like this? Or did you take the little bit of advice I gave you yesterday morning to just give in to the temptation to put your arm around her?" He paused, watching Steve stare down at his hands, the blush remaining. Bucky began to grin. "Oh Steve. You did."

Steve shrugged, not wanting to make eye contact with Bucky. "Maybe." He shifted uncomfortably, knowing Bucky wouldn't give up the questioning until he gave a little more on the answer. So he raised his head, unable to stop the smile on his face. "And maybe that lead further," he added quietly.

Bucky's eyes widened, as Steve's smile widened. He whistled lowly. "This I did not expect. Now I'm torn on whose virtue I need to be concerned for - yours or hers?" He chuckled.

Steve shook his head. "No, no, nothing of that sort."

"Yet," Bucky replied quickly, with a wink. Their waitress reappeared with their food, which stopped their conversation for a few minutes.

After Steve had consumed over half of his food, he gave Bucky a serious look. "Bucky, you know me."

"Oh, I do. Just giving a hard time, man. I've got to say, without needing to know more, because a gentleman never kisses and tells, whatever fun the two of you had last night, you look happy today. So good for you." He smiled and took another bite of his toast.

Steve smiled back. "Thanks, pal. This probably seems like small potatoes to you, but ..."

Bucky shook his head. "Nah, I get it. It's cool. So open your gift!"

Steve finished the last two bites of his meal, and read the card: _On the fourth day of Christmas, Steve's tru wuv gave to him, four colly* bird magnets to help you keep important notes, lists or sketches on your fridge._ The asterisk was followed up at the bottom of the card: _*Internet research says colly literally means 'black as coal' so a colly bird is a blackbird!_He opened the box and pulled out four different magnets, each featuring a blackbird on them. One of them had an actual picture of a blackbird, while two of the others had sketches. The fourth had what looked like an old newspaper drawing of one. The magnets all appeared to be homemade, and were various sizes. He saw Bucky looking at them in confusion, and passed him the card.

Bucky smiled upon reading it. "So that sketch I kind of saw you working on that you tried to hide that maybe might be of someone we were just talking about?" Steve nodded. "Maybe when it's all done, you can use these to put it on your fridge."

Steve smiled. "That's not a bad idea, Buck. Not a bad idea at all."

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry for the late posting. I had most of the chapter written and just a little bit left to add, but then it was time for the **Homeland** season finale. I was going to try and finish it at the very start of it before the big stuff started happening, but as anyone who knows that show knows, that's pretty much impossible. So I was delayed by that finale, which was quite a doozy! Anyhow, thanks to everyone for reading and commenting - I truly appreciate it!_


	6. Day 5

**_On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... five gold rings ..._**

_December 17th_

Bruce opened up the door to his room Monday morning, on his way to the shared kitchen to get a quick bite to eat before heading to his lab, and nearly tripped over a large box that was sitting outside. Thankfully, his many hours spent practicing yoga helped him regain his balance easily. He knelt down, pushing up his glasses, as he reached to pick it up. He carried it back inside and set it on the bar counter in his kitchenette. He looked at the tag attached to what he now realized was another Secret Santa present: If you are cold, team will warm you. If you are too heated, it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you.

He smiled, tearing at the wrapping paper eagerly. Tossing it aside, he opened the box. Inside were several of his favorite teas, including a couple of exotic teas he had a difficult time finding. His stash at the Tower had been getting low, and he'd mentioned that he'd have to place an order for more recently, but he hadn't been sure who else had heard him mention that. He was quite pleased someone had. He pulled out one of the blends he hadn't had in a while and carried it with him as he set off for the shared kitchen again. What couldn't have been a bleary start to the week had taken a turn for the better, he thought, smiling as he walked down the hall.

* * *

__Natasha walked into the common living room around mid-morning. She had finished her morning workout and was planning on catching up on some of her favorite shows that should be waiting for her on the Tower's DVR. As she curled up in her favorite oversized chair, she noticed a large bottle filled with a clear liquid sitting on the nearby end table with a small label tag attached to it with a small, sparkly ribbon. The tag read: _Dearest Widow, Drink and Be Merry._ She felt a smile tug at her lips, and then her gaze settled lower on the bottle where she read label. She grinned. It was her very favorite type of Russian vodka - very hard to come by in the US and, especially given the size of the bottle, quite expensive. This was going to be a good day.

* * *

Darcy was sitting at her desk, absently tapping on bobblehead-Fury's head. Coulson and Bucky were out doing some sort of field training that afternoon. His psychiatrist had been quite pleased with his upswing in mood since he'd been visiting with Steve, and had suggested some supervised, light field work or training might be in order at that morning's appointment. Not one to wait to be told twice, he had cajoled Coulson into letting him tag along with him that afternoon. Darcy was able to slip along that day's present for Steve with him before the two had left.

However, since they'd left, things had calmed down considerably. Coulson had told her that like most businesses, SHIELD tended to be pretty slow during the final two weeks of December. He'd knocked on wood while saying this, as he was as superstitious as anyone when making such a bold statement, but historically speaking, he was fairly confident in that conclusion. Darcy had caught up on filing paperwork, and had already contacted the agents who had overdue paperwork. She was now going through Coulson's 2013 calendar and adjusting it to her personal organization preferences. She had only done a few months when she first started, as his calendar had been a huge mess. She couldn't believe someone whose personality was so calm could keep such a disorganized calendar. She soon found her rhythm and zoned out the rest of the office noises.

There was a polite cough. Darcy whipped her head up, eyes wide, hoping that whomever coughed hadn't been waiting long. She was looking to see where the cough came from when her eyes met a set of blue ones that seemed to be twinkling. She felt a blush rise on her cheeks.

"So, I hope I'm not interrupting you from something important," Steve began. He held his arms awkwardly in front of him, not quite sure whether to put them in his pants pockets or in the pockets of the leather jacket he had on. She shook her head, the corner of one side of her mouth quirking upwards. "Oh, okay. I had to stop over for a meeting earlier and was thinking, I mean, you'd mentioned your Secret Santa gift the other day, but wouldn't say what it was."

She brushed a random strand of hair behind her ear, ducking her head a bit. "That I did."

His eyes focused in on her bobbled as one hand reached out and tapped it. "Is that supposed to be Director Fury?" he asked, sounding somewhat awed, shocked, horrified and on the verge of laughing all at once.

"Yup. You also just discovered the gift." She grinned as he looked at her with a smile like a kid who'd just been let in on a juicy secret. She felt her heartbeat speed up at that smile.

"That ... is amazing." He continued to stare at the bobblehead, tapping the head when it stopped moving. Even though he'd said he'd had a meeting, he was dressed a little more casually than she would have expected. By casual, she meant jeans instead of khakis with his usual plaid button down over a white shirt. And she wanted to thank whoever had helped him pick out those jeans, if he didn't do that himself, because they accentuated his fantastic ass perfectly. She blushed further at that thought, and slowly drew her eyes back upwards where she met his staring at her, a bemused expression on his face, one eyebrow raised. Oh god, she thought, had he caught her, and even worse, did he seem to be getting a kick out of it?

"So I see your boss is out for the afternoon." He drummed his fingers on the edge of her desk. "And I happened to get my Secret Santa delivery earlier than usual. So I was thinking, if you are able to leave a little early ..." he let his voice trail off.

Darcy held up one finger to Steve as she picked up her cell phone and fired off a quick text message. Her phone chirped, and she smiled. "Boss says a-okay!" She sat her purse on her desk and stood up.

"You don't even want to know what I was thinking?" he asked incredulously.

She shook her head as she walked to put on her coat. "No. I'm pretty sure whatever you were thinking is a good idea. I'm a risk-taker like that." She giggled as she picked up her purse.

"Well," he began, reaching out to offer his arm to her, smiling as she slid her hand in and gave his bicep a squeeze, "as it happens, today is the fifth day of Christmas, so my Secret Santa gave me five gold rings in the form of a gift card to this place called Bareburger. Supposedly their onion rings, which I guess are fried to a golden brown, are quite good." He turned his head toward her, putting his free hand on top of hers that was around his arm as they began to walk towards the exit. "I also learned there is one of these restaurants not that far from my apartment."

She hummed in approval. She'd eaten at Bareburger several times, which is why she picked that place for today's gift. Now she was getting the chance to enjoy her gift with her Santee. "It's a given that you're hungry?" she teased.

He laughed. "You're interested then?" She nodded eagerly. "Great. I saw the other night that that holiday movie you'd mentioned you liked that you though I may like was on, and I think I managed to have my digital recorder thing save it."

They reached the bay of elevators and were waiting for a car to arrive to take them to the main lobby. She chuckled at his explanation of DVR-ing a movie. "Oh Steve, you've come so far technologically since we first me. I'm so proud."

He snorted. "You laugh now, but wait until after we eat when we're watching that movie. The one with Bing Crosby in it. Then we'll see who has the last laugh." He slipped his arm from around hers to around her waist, pulling her close to him as they stepped on the elevator, pressing a quick kiss to her head.

"Dinner and a movie, Captain Rogers? This plan of yours I agreed to without waiting to hear you out is a date?" She looked up at him with a sly grin.

He looked back at her with an equally sly grin. "I guess it is, Miss Lewis."

* * *

_Author's Note: Another later update and a bit shorter than usual. It was one of those Mondays at work, what can I say? But a huge thanks again to all those who've read, followed, or commented on this story. It's greatly appreciated! We're nearing the halfway mark tomorrow ... _


	7. Day 6

**_On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... six geese-a-laying ..._**

_December 18th_

The smell of coffee brewing was what slowly drew Darcy out of her peaceful slumber. Letting out a deep sigh, she raised her arms over her head to stretch, only for them to hit what seemed like the arm rest of a couch? She opened her eyes a tiny bit, but quickly closed them because the light was so bright. She brought her arms back down to cover her eyes and realized she was still wearing dressy t-shirt she'd had on under her suit jacket at work yesterday. She started to roll over, not realizing how close to the edge of the couch she was, but managed to untangle a leg from the blanket that was covering her to keep her balancing on the couch. However, now both of her eyes were wide open, squinting at the sun. She had to blink rapidly several times to adjust to the brightness and because she'd slept in her contacts.

Once the light didn't seem quite as bright, she gazed around the room and realized she was still at Steve's. Glancing at the time on the DVR, she noticed it was 7:00. She had to be a work in an hour and a half, which meant she needed to get home and get ready. She sat up quickly, too quickly, as she got a bit of a head rush. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to tame what she assumed were wild curls, and as she was doing this, she heard quiet chuckling behind her. She narrowed her eyes as she slowly turned her head to look over the back of the couch towards the kitchen. Whatever tiny bit of irritation she felt at the chuckling completely melted at what she saw.

Steve was sitting on one of the high chairs that lined the kitchen counter that also doubled as a eating area on one side. Instead of facing the counter, he was facing the living room, with a large mug of coffee in his hands. That wasn't what made her insides gooey, however. Steve was wearing a dark green pair of sweat pants, a faded gray t-shirt and a red and gray cardigan with a rolled collar that on anyone else would look like an old man sweater but worked here. And topping it off, his hair was still mussed from sleep. It was the most casual and comfy, and down right adorable, she had seen him, and she just wanted to snuggle right into it and never let go.

She'd never had feelings like this with any of her crushes in the past - usually, at this stage in her crush, well, she thought, they never got to this point. They'd usually fooled around, had their fun and parted ways at this point. It wasn't that she was saying that she was easy or a love 'em and leave 'em gal; she was respected herself and picky, plus the fooling around never usually got past what she referred to as second base plus. Only a select few had been allowed to round the bases, and even less to hit a home run. One of the many downsides of being blessed with a larger chest, aside from never finding cute lingerie or button-down shirts, was meeting guys whose only goal was to feel the girls up.

And here she was, sitting on the couch at Steve's apartment having spent the night, and there had been no funny business attempted. He'd been a perfect gentleman. After eating at Bareburger - the onion rings had been delicious, Steve had loved them - they'd come back to his place to watch his successful recording of 'White Christmas.' She had curled up on the couch, a little cold after she'd taken off her suit jacket, and he'd tucked the blanket around her. He'd teased that she still might not be warm enough and threw his arm around her shoulder, pulling her against him. The man radiated heat, something with sped-up metabolism from the super soldier serum he'd said. And then the kissing. For someone who'd said he only kissed a couple of people and only had one really meaningful kiss - she had no reason to doubt him - he was a fast and eager learner.

At the end of the night, he'd said he wouldn't feel comfortable with her going home at this late hour, and said she could stay on his bed and he'd take the couch. Which of course she argued with him on because she was the guest, and she wouldn't have any problems going home. Finally he relented on his sleeping on the couch, and she didn't even dare suggest they both share his bed, thinking she'd leave that for another time.

Which brought her to slightly gawking at him at his calmly sipped his coffee. She knew she'd been staring a bit too long judging by the grin that was spreading across his face. She felt her face redden.

"Morning," she mumbled.

He nodded, tipping his mug at her. "There's plenty more where this came from, still warm and pretty fresh. I remember you saying 'weren't really a functioning human' until you had your morning coffee."

She smiled as she stood up, smoothing out her pants. Of course he remember that, she thought. The man has a memory like an elephant. "Very true." She walked into the kitchen and noticed another one of those large mugs sitting in front of a fancy coffee maker. A container of powdered creamer and a jar of sugar were sitting alongside.

"There's some milk in the fridge if you use that," he added.

She shook her head as she filled the mug. "Nah, just a little cream. My grandpa drank it black and tried to teach me to like it that way, but I always chickened out and put a little cream in it when he wasn't looking." She smiled at the memory. Satisfied that she had the mix just right, she took a long sip, letting out a contented sigh.

"So now wouldn't be the time to tell you that it's decaf?" he teased.

She narrowed her eyes at him over the rim of the mug, taking another sip. "Never joke about coffee." She walked over to where he was seated, leaning against the counter. "It's the nectar of the gods."

He looked at her with a raised brow. "Really?"

She shrugged. "Well, Thor didn't exactly say nectar, but he is fond of the drink." She smirked.

He set his mug down on the counter behind him and twisted in his chair to face her, smiling sweetly. He reached for her mug and placed it on the counter as well. He grabbed her hands, sending tingles of excitement up her arms. It was her turn to quirk a brow at him. He ran his hands up her arms, leaving goose bumps in their wake, before resting on her shoulders, gently pulling her down until her lips met his. Once her initial shock wore off, one of her hands found its way to the back of his neck, running through the short hair at the nape of his neck, and the other fisting itself in his t-shirt, as she moved herself closer to him.

His hands brushed her at her sides and when she pressed herself into him, one of his hands slipped down to grab at her ass. She hummed at this, lightly biting his bottom lip before peppering his jaw line with kisses. One of his legs wrapped around hers, as he began leaving a trail of kisses down her neck. She reached for the neck of his sweater and started to push it off before leaning back, taking a deep breath. Over his shoulder she noticed that she now only had a half hour before she needed to be at work. Steve's hands settled on the small of her back, as he planted one last kiss on her jaw line before following her gaze and noticing the time.

He let out a deep breath. "That was nice," he murmured, bringing his gaze back to her.

She nodded, gulping. "Yes. Very much so." She smiled at his kiss-swollen lips, enjoying that she had a part in that.

"Wish you didn't have to go to work." He pushed an errant strand of her hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her cheek.

She laughed. "Yeah, but someone has to save the world from the paperwork you superheroes generate," she teased.

"Since I didn't exactly get you breakfast, can I meet you for lunch?" He grinned.

"I'll have to check my schedule and get back to you." She smirked, taking a step back and picking up her coffee mug. "I'm kind of a big deal, you know. People know me." He chuckled. She walked over to the couch, gathering her things. Reaching into her purse, she found a hair tie and walked over to a mirror he had on the wall, pulling her hair into a messy bun. She knew she couldn't get away with wearing the suit jacket two days in a row, but she had an idea. She put the mug down on the coffee table on one of the many coasters - he had a thing about using coasters - and motioned for him to join her.

She reached her arms up around his neck, pulling him closer for a kiss, before she brought her hands down to the buttons on the cardigan. She quickly undid the buttons and slipped the cardigan off. This caused Steve to intensify the kiss, which she normally wouldn't have minded had she not been trying to get to work. With a groan, she pulled back, the cardigan in one hand.

"I'll just be borrowing this." She slipped it on over her t-shirt and hugged herself, enjoying its warmth, coziness and its general Steve-ness. "Can't go in wearing the same thing as yesterday." She winked.

He hurried to the hall closet, grabbing her coat and his. "Let me walk you down to get a cab," he offered. She smiled as he helped her with her coat. As they were getting on the elevator, he added, "Don't worry about being in a hurry about returning the sweater. It looks good on you."

Had the elevator door not closed as he said that, and had she not been dressed and on her way to work, she would've dragged him back into his apartment and thrown aside all her plan of actually making it in on time that day.

_*br*_

Bucky winked at her as he and Steve made their way to Darcy's desk at noon. Steve was carrying a box, which Darcy knew to be his gift for the day.

"Chocolate?" Steve asked, holding out the opened box to her. There were only a few items left, of what had been six chocolate geese and six gold foil-wrapped chocolate eggs. She took an egg.

"Well, I'll be seeing you guys," Bucky said with a wave, starting to walk away. Steve and Darcy exchanged a look, and Darcy called out after him.

"Steve owes me lunch, and I think I owe you lunch. So let's go crazy and try something that isn't breakfast food or at a diner."

He turned around, a grin spreading across his face. "Let's roll."

* * *

_Author's Note: Sorry for the late posting ... had some personal errands to take care of today that delayed getting this finished. It was finished on the 18th in my time zone :) Thanks again to everyone who is enjoying this - I hope this chapter meets your expectations!_


	8. Day 7

**___On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... seven swans-a-swimming ..._**

_December 19th_

That morning at breakfast at the Tower, Jane and Pepper had been surprised with gift cards for a day of pampering at a fancy spa - both at the same spa. The two had giggled, wondering if their Secret Santas had planned this. Neither noticed a nervous look exchanged between two of the others. Jane and Pepper then started trying to coordinate when their day at the spa should take place. Then Pepper suggested maybe after the spa day, some retail therapy may be nice. Jane then threw out the idea of dinner somewhere after that.

Tony looked up from his phone, eyes narrowed. He sighed. "Well, Thor, buddy, I think this spa 'present' that those two just got just turned into a night out for us, too."

Thor nodded, taking a large sip from his large mug of coffee. "Indeed."

Pepper turned her head towards Tony, a smirk playing on her lips. "Oh, you just assumed we were including you boys in the potential dinner plans?" Jane brought up a hand to cover a quiet giggle escaping from her mouth.

Tony quirked a brow. "I don't assume, Pep. I know." He winked, pushing his chair back from the table and standing up. He reached for a piece of toast and took a decent-sized bite. "You'll spend all day prettying yourselves up, then buying something to make yourselves even more beautiful," he began, not worrying about having food in his mouth while he was speaking, "and then not want us there? Please." He took another bite of the toast and walked over to the elevator, turning to look over his shoulder at Pepper. She shook her head, smiling softly. Jane's shoulders were shaking as she laughed silently, and Thor simply grinned.

* * *

Bucky was waiting out in front of Steve's apartment at exactly 10 a.m., just as he told Steve he would be, and as he'd promised Darcy. He pulled his coat in a little tighter as a gust of wind hit him. Sure, it may not have been Russian winter temperatures, but it was chilly and the clouds in the sky were threatening rain.

Steve walked out the door a few minutes later, smiling. He pulled his baseball cap tighter on his head and walked over to where Bucky was standing. Bucky greeted him by handing him a white envelope.

"Well hello to you, too," Steve said, pulling out the letter. "On the seventh day of Christmas, Steve's _tru wuv_ gave to him … a day at the zoo to find seven swans-a-swimming, and maybe lions and tigers and Bucky, oh my!"

Bucky snorted and rolled his eyes at the last bit. "Really. Your Santa _had_ to go there."

Steve clapped him on the back. "Looks like we're going to the Central Park Zoo pal!" He showed him the tickets attached to the letter.

"Don't think we ever got to do that as kids, did we?" Bucky stepped up to the curb, hailing a cab. One quickly pulled over and he and Steve got in. Soon they were zooming through the streets of New York.

"No, and I don't think it was 'cause of the money," Steve finally replied. Both were busy watching as the buildings rushed by them.

"Probably because any time you got within a block of something that woofed or meowed, you started sneezin' and wheezin' like it was going out of style," Bucky teased, smacking Steve's arm.

"If I remember right, you weren't too fond of cats, not after your run-in with Mrs. Rosetti's in the alleyway that one time." He smiled slyly.

They reached their destination, paid their fare, and started walking towards the main entrance. The park itself wasn't overly full of people, but that wasn't surprising given the weather.

"There's a difference between liking an animal and not being able to tolerate being around them on account of allergies," Bucky retorted with a grin. Reaching the entrance, Steve handed over the tickets and the two entered the zoo. Bucky looked at the map and figured out where the swans likely were. "You'd think swans would be at the bridge by the swan pond, right?"

Steve shrugged. "Sounds about right." They walked for a few moments in comfortable silence. Steve's mind wandered to the day before and Darcy. He thought about how she'd enjoy coming to the zoo, as she was always showing him videos of cute animals from the internet. One time, she'd even gotten him to watch this show on some channel called Animal Planet that was all about cute puppies and kittens. He loved watching the way her face would light up when she would watch these cute things, and how she always wanted to make sure that everyone else was enjoying them as much as she was. He'd teased her a bit about watching these things, but she said with all of the crazy and scary stuff she learned at work, watching the cute puppies helped balance things out.

He didn't realized they'd stopped walking until Bucky elbowed him. "Hey there Steve-o. Still with us?" Steve blushed.

"Sorry. Just was thinking about something."

Bucky leaned forward on what Steve now realized was a railing for a bridge, turning his head towards him. "Something, or some_one_?"

Steve leaned forward, joining him. He stared ahead and noticed the swans. "Here they are. A-swimming." He started counting in his head.

"You didn't answer the question, buddy." He paused. "I promise to keep the majority of my witty comments to myself because if the thoughts are about who I think they are, well, if she caught wind of some of them …" He didn't finish the sentence, but turned his head to see Steve smiling.

"She has tased a god you know," Steve said, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"That may have come up in conversation a time or two, but always good to be reminded of it." The corner of Bucky's mouth turned upwards in a smile. He chose his next words carefully. "She a good kisser?"

Steve's ears reddened and he clenched his jaw. He wanted to be completely offended, but remembered having similar conversations with Bucky years ago on Sunday mornings following date night. He unclenched his jaw and grinned. "Well, you know how I always was with the ladies before," he began, and Bucky nodded slowly, "but Darcy is an excellent teacher."

Both of Bucky's eyebrows shot to his hairline at this before he started laughing. "Good for you, Steve. Seriously." He patted Steve on the shoulder as he said this. "She's a lucky gal, and you're a lucky guy."

"To be honest Buck, I have no idea what I'm doing, and for the first time in my life, I'm okay with that." He chuckled.

"You? No plan? Inconceivable!" Bucky smirked.

"I know, I know. But seriously, I could see myself with her long-term." He smiled.

Bucky's face grew serious. "Have you told her this?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't want to scare her away. I'm still just happy with this new development in our friendship or relationship, the kissing. She's been the one constant in my life since I woke up."

"You've never been one to be overly cautious before. Running into things headfirst, doing what's right, that's sort of your M.O. pal." Bucky turned around so his back faced the swans, crossing his arms across his chest. Steve did the same.

"And you've always had my back," Steve replied.

Bucky nodded. "Always have and always will. Now with the added bonus of knowing who you're up against, so that may tip the odds in your favor even more."

A small smile spread across Steve's face. "Well, the swans seem all a-swum out. Should we check out some of the other animals I'm no longer allergic to?"

* * *

_Author's Note: Another late one, I'm sorry. I've been rushing to finish up some last minute Christmas errands before the end of the week, which has pushed by my writing time to later at night. Hoping to get a head of the game in the next couple of days! Hope you enjoy this installment, and thanks everyone for reading, reviewing and just generally liking this story!_


	9. Day 8

_Author's Note_: In the ongoing battle of my ears/sinuses v. me, my ears/sinuses are up by one. Unfortunately, that has put me behind on updating Steve's 12 Days. Fear not, however, as I intend to get the rest of the story out ASAP, as I am doing some traveling for the holidays as well as continuing my retaliation on my ears/sinuses. Thank you for continuing to enjoy this story and your continued patience. Happy Holidays!

* * *

**_On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... eight maids-a-milking ..._**

___December 20th_

When Natasha had returned from a morning yoga session with Bruce, she didn't find Clint in their suite. He had still been asleep when she'd left, and she'd figured he was going to have a lazy morning. They don't get too many of those in their line of work, so she completely understood taking them when one could.

Instead, she wandered into the bedroom where she found a note he'd left on the bed. She quickly read it, and with a sigh, threw it back on the bed. She'd deal with it after a shower.

A while later, she wandered into the common living room TV area, where Clint's note said he'd be. That's where one of the biggest TVs and best sound system was located. It was a favorite place to gather to watch movies or marathon TV shows, or watch the big game. Clint was sprawled across one of the couches, martini in hand.

He raised it in greeting to her. "Hot Lips!" She rolled her eyes, smirking. He gestured to a nearby end table that had another martini on it. She picked it up and sat next to him. He brought his free arm around her, pulling her closer to her.

Waggling his eyebrows, he teased, "Looks like _someone's_ Secret Santa really likes them!" She looked ahead at the TV and saw an episode of M*A*S*H was playing - Clint's favorite TV show. On the floor beneath the entertainment center set-up was the open box for the complete series , the M*A*S*H Martinis & Medicine Collection, with one disc missing.

"And yet you swear your Hawkeye doesn't derive from this?" she asked with a raised brow, taking a small sip of the drink. He'd mixed it fairly strong.

He leaned his head against hers and sighed contentedly. "Nat, Nat, Nat. Just because I like a show with a character who shares a nickname with me doesn't mean that it's my nickname's origin. You know I've got sharp eyesight." He turned his head a bit so his eyes met hers somewhat. "Plus, this Hawkeye's nickname doesn't have anything to do with any ability, like mine does. It came from his dad." He smiled as she hummed and rubbed the shoulder his arm was around.

Despite her ambivalence on the show - she wasn't a huge fan, but she didn't hate it - she decided spending a cozy day on the couch with Clint wouldn't be a bad way to spend a Thursday. She snuggled in closer to him. "So catch me up on what I've missed."

* * *

Tony burst excitedly into Pepper's office, ignoring the warnings of her assistant that she was on the phone. Tony didn't know why her assistants tried to stop him, as they likely knew or should know he wasn't going to listen. It was just a waste of their time and energy to try and put up a fight.

He set the box on her desk before he plopped down on one of the comfy chairs she had for her guests. He ignored her glares as he propped both tennis shoe-clad feet up on the edge of her desk. So what, he thought, it wasn't like they were covering any paperwork. He started to open his mouth to say something to her, but she raised her hand, giving him the signal that she would be just a few minutes more. The smile already on his face widened as he heard her voice rise, obviously a little angry at whomever she was talking to - he loved when she played hardball in her role as CEO because she was so good at it.

His phone buzzed and he saw a text from Darcy, reminding him that she'd stop by to pick up the flowers she'd asked him to get from California for her. He quickly replied, as he heard Pepper finish her phone call.

"Tony, you have five minutes. And please stop scaring my assistants. They always get so twitchy after a visit from you." She tried to remain firm, but couldn't help a soft smile at his somewhat confused expression.

He pointed to the box on her desk. "I'm kind of thinking I have the best Secret Santa."

"Oh really?" She looked at the box, not quite sure what was so special about it.

"Yeah. I've even resisted hacking the program I had JARVIS set up to find out who was assigned to me! And you know me, Pep, that's a big deal! Especially when I hate surprises." He was gesturing wildly with his hands at this point. She nodded, waiting for him to continue. "So when I got this, I was impressed. I mean, the literal Rosebud earlier was funny and cute, a little on the nose, you know, genius, billionaire stereotype thing, har har. But this! This shows thought and a little digging into young me. And I have no idea how this person managed to come across this info, so that's what's even more puzzling."

"Tony, you know I'm a little pressed for time, so I've got to ask. What exactly is this?"

He gave her a look of disbelief, as if he couldn't comprehend why a person wouldn't know what this box was. "Pepper, it's an Erector Set." She blinked. He continued, "The toy I always wanted growing up, but my dad said I couldn't have. Never mind that all of my friends had their sets, or that dad was always building things, but never letting me help or try to build anything. Because, in his words, a Stark was too good for some low-brow toy like that. I was only eight."

Pepper got up from behind her desk, walked around and pulled Tony into a hug. She sometimes forgot about the horrible things that he'd endured during his childhood. As she rubbed his back, he clung tighter, not realizing how comforting a hug could be.

When he finally pulled back, she pretended not to notice that his eyes seemed a little wet, and he pretended not to notice the sniffle of her nose. They were both smiling, and he laughed. He brushed his thumb over her cheek before leaning in and gently kissing her. He didn't want to mess up her perfectly done makeup and hair when he knew she had a few meeting left to go in her day.

"I'm glad you finally got the toy you've always wanted because the best things do come to those who wait." She kissed the tip of his nose before walking around to her desk chair.

He reached down for the box. "Very true. In many ways." He met her gaze and winked. "Plus, this set is the exact one that I originally wanted! I can't believe it! I hope all the parts are here. Okay, Pep, see you later. I've got places to go, people to see, and you are quite the busy bee. Dinner later?" He leaned in the door frame, waiting for her answer.

"Sounds perfect. See you then, Mr. Stark," she said with a smile.

"Until dinner, Ms. Potts."

* * *

"Tony, when I thanked you for getting the flowers and physically picked up the box from you, that sort of implied an end to this whole you help me, I'll help you relationship thing." Darcy turned around, glaring at him. "It didn't mean follow me to the location where I was going to drop them off."

He shrugged, not showing any sign that her anger concerned him. "How do you know I didn't want to collect on the you-help-me part of the bargain right away?"

Rolling her eyes, she continued to Steve's building, not worrying that Tony was following her, as she was on a time table. She had only been able to keep him out of the apartment for a couple of hours, and Coulson had promised he'd text her when he left SHIELD. She walked up the steps to the building and entered the code to get in. She hurried through the door, hoping Tony wouldn't make it through before it closed, but she wasn't that fortunate. She pulled out her phone and sent a quick text.

"So this is where Cap hangs in his spare time, eh? What he thinks is better than my Tower?" Tony was casting an appraising eye over the lobby, mentally making a list of reasons his Tower was better than Steve's Brooklyn apartment. He saw Darcy texting on her phone again.

She stepped into the elevator, with Tony quickly following. She pushed the button for penthouse and heard Tony let out a low whistle. Again, she turned towards him, glaring, as she pointed a finger into his upper arm. "Look, you're not supposed to be here. So whatever you're going to see is not to be repeated to anyone, nor is it to be used to heckle Steve in any way. Ya got me?"

The elevator reached Steve's floor and the two stepped out. Tony expected her to pull out a set of keys, but instead they were greeted by a man about Steve's age who was _not_ Steve. He was shorter than Steve and his hair was a dark brown color, slightly shaggy. It wasn't until the man reached out to help Darcy with the box and he noticed a flash of metal from his left arm, as he was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, that he put two and two together.

"I made that, didn't I?" he asked, following the two of them into Steve's apartment. He took a look around the place, taking in the openness of it. He realized the whole place felt very, well, Steve. "And Darcy, what you said earlier, I got you."

She looked at him, grinning. Then she looked at Bucky. "He probably did make that," she said, motioning to his left arm. "Let me go put the plants and stuff in the kitchen."

Bucky turned to look at Tony, a weariness in his eyes. "So you're a Stark?" he asked, bringing up his left hand to scratch at the back of his head.

Tony's head shot up. "I am. Tony Stark. Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Along with world-saving as Iron Man."

"Modest, too," Bucky replied with a snort. "Just like your old man."

Tony's eyes hardened. "I am _nothing_ like my 'old man.' And what do you know of him, anyhow? He died years ago, long before you were born."

"Buddy, that's where you're way wrong." He walked over closer to Tony, and extended his right hand. "James Barnes, but friends call me Bucky."

Tony was shaking his hand when he said Bucky. Tony's eyes widened. "Wait, Bucky as in Steve's dead best friend Bucky who died in World War II?"

Bucky smirked. "The one and the same."

"Well holy shit. Now we've got ourselves a matched pair!" Tony chuckled. "Two men out of time."

Bucky shrugged, sitting down on one of the nearby chairs. "Eh, my story's not quite the same as Steve's. But you did make the arm. Works real good, too. Quite a step up from the last one the Russians had outfitted me with."

"Fuck," Tony said quietly, as he sat in another chair. "Russians?"

Darcy rejoined them in the living room, and Bucky looked at her. "Do we have time for me to partially catch Tony up?" She glanced at her watch and nodded.

Bucky explained how the Russians had found him after he'd fallen from the train, and using their mind control and reprogramming techniques, along with their bionic technology, remade him into the Winter Soldier. As he had told Steve, he also told Tony that he still didn't remember things with the utmost certainty, as things were still fuzzy, and he wasn't sure if all of his memories for that time would ever come back.

"Shit man, I don't know if I'd ever want those to come back," Tony said, when Bucky took a long pause.

Bucky chuckled darkly. "Yeah, I dunno. It's like, there's a point when you don't really want to know answers to the questions you've got in your mind, I s'pose."

"So you're slowly reintroducing yourself to people, or what? SHIELD trying to hide you? Can't imagine your pal Steve's a fan of that." Tony stood up, noticing that Darcy had glanced at the time again. Bucky followed suit.

"Nah, they're not trying to hide me. I'm still working stuff out with their help. Coulson's a good guy, so I can't complain too much about SHIELD. Plus Darcy's an excellent teacher on pop culture stuff. She came highly recommended after helping Steve, so me helping her with this Secret Santa stuff, and getting to hang out with my best friend again, is nice. And, since I've been helping, Steve and Darcy seem to both be much happier, but neither is willing to really say why." He paused, smirking. "I'm only hoping by your party, Stark, that this happiness trend continues."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Really? Interesting. If there is any more assistance I can provide, you'll have to let me know."

Darcy stomped her feet. "I am right here, guys! You know, with both ears working JUST FINE."

Bucky put an arm around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze. "Good to know, doll. I'd hate for your hearing to become a problem, especially," he leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a stage whisper, "if Steve ever decides to try and whisper sweet nothings to you." Darcy's face turned bright red before she started to laugh and she was soon joined by Bucky and Tony. Her phone chirped, and she saw a text from Coulson telling her that Steve had just left SHIELD.

"Guys, we've gotta run. My Santee is on his way back to his apartment, and we can't be here then." Making sure all the lights were off and the door locked, they got into the elevator. She turned to look at Bucky. "Hey Sarge, how _did_ you manage to borrow a key from Steve?"

Bucky grinned. "Oh I just asked him if I could use his computer, telling him I wanted to look up something off of SHIELD's computer network. And he said if it was porn, to please make sure not to get his computer full of viruses or spyware." Darcy groaned.

"I'm actually proud of Cap. He's learned how to keep his computer running fast. On the other hand, he could've at least recommended a few of his favorite sites to you. A bro should've helped another bro out. Unless he's not into internet porn," Tony added.

"He's always been more of an arty visual guy, so videos probably aren't his thing. Now pin-ups …" Bucky let his comment trail off.

"Hey, let's change topics because while I know everyone has porn preferences, I'd rather not think about Steve's. At least not right now," Darcy interrupted. Tony and Bucky exchanged a look, and Darcy let out an exasperated sigh.

* * *

Steve got home from SHIELD about fifteen minutes after Darcy, Bucky and Tony had left. He headed straight to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and noticed eight little pots of plants sitting on the counter. He saw a note sitting in front of them:

_On the eighth day of Christmas, Steve's tru wuv gave to him, eight milkmaids (for maids-a-milking) … a flowering plant often found growing in the wild in California, common in shady slopes and grassland, flowers in the winter and early spring! _

The plants weren't flowering yet, but he made sure they were in a place to get the right light. He leaned in to see if they were giving off any scent yet, but just smelled the freshness of the plant and the soil, which itself wasn't a bad smell. He'd never really taken care of plants before, so this was an unexpected yet welcome gift. He looked forward to tomorrow's gift.


	10. Day 9

**_On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... nine ladies dancing …_**

_December 21st_

Thor rushed into Jane's lab, some papers waving in his right hand. "Jane! My Jane! I believe we have just been given plans for this evening!"

Jane turned to greet him, as did Tony and Bruce, who were helping Jane calibrate some equipment that wasn't producing results as accurately as she believed it could. Thor had a wide smile on his face. "So what are these plans?"

"We are to dine and then go to Rockefeller's Center to partake in something called iced skating. I presume this is a Midgardian holiday tradition of which you are familiar?"

She giggled and nodded. "Yeah, ice skating is something that can be done year-round indoors, but is more fun to do in the winter. I'll do my best to teach you tonight."

Bruce and Tony looked at Thor and then looked at Jane, and then both burst out laughing at the thought of tiny Jane teaching the much larger Thor, who'd now be in a pair of skates, how to safely glide across the ice.

Tony attempted to compose himself, wiping a tear from his eye. "Please, Dr. Foster, any photos you'd be willing to share of this experience would be greatly appreciated." He then began giggling.

Jane tried to glare at him, but then pictured Thor learning to skate and realized it would probably look hilarious yet adorable. A smile spread across her face at the thought, and she took Thor's free hand, giving it at squeeze. "I'll try for a photo or two, if there's time. I have a feeling he'll be a quick study."

* * *

Phil Coulson walked into his office Friday morning looking forward to the weekend, for once. He had a backlog of television on his DVR and intended to make a dent in clearing it off. Things had been relatively normal at SHIELD for once, and he had hoped to take advantage of it.

On his desk sat a necklace with a charm and a note. He picked up the card to read it: _A noble warrior never misses his mark, and his shot always kills, like Gungnir._ He realized the charm was in the shape of a spear. Remembering what he had learned of Norse mythology in school and from when Thor had first arrived, Gungnir was a spear, and if he recalled correctly, Odin's spear.

He smiled, picking up the necklace. He was never one for lucky charms or numbers and wearing them on necklaces for luck as some field agents were (Hawkeye, he was thinking of you), but something about this one felt right. He secured it around his neck, and slipped it under his shirt. He figured, given what he'd been through recently, it wasn't too late to start carrying a possible lucky charm.

* * *

"How is it that we never saw this show before?" Bucky asked Steve as they walked out of a Rockettes show.

Steve shrugged. "Not sure."

"It's one of the few things that has been around almost as long as us!" Bucky chuckled. "Man, those girls can kick."

"Mmm hmm," Steve replied. He was busy looking at his phone. Bucky tried to lean over and see what Steve was looking at, but Steve quickly slid it back in his pocket. "So, I think there were definitely more than nine ladies dancing."

Bucky nodded and began walking towards Rockefeller Center. He'd had a text from Darcy earlier telling him that she would likely be at the skating rink that evening, and to let him know when the show was done. "True, but there were at least nine. So I'd say that fits the gift."

Steve's phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He read something on it, smiled, and looked up at Bucky. "How far away are we from the ice skating rink outside of Rockefeller Center?"

"Not far. Why?" Bucky asked, smirking.

"Darcy's there with Jane and Thor. Want to go join them?" The look of eagerness and earnestness on Steve's face was one Bucky knew he couldn't say no to, even if he hadn't already planned on saying agreeing.

"Thor's the big guy? The one who is a god or something?" Bucky asked, dragging out his reply a little longer. Steve nodded. "Sure, let's go watch the big guy try to skate."

* * *

Darcy was sitting on a bench near the skate rental, waiting for Bucky and Steve to arrive. Her sides hurt from laughing, as she had earlier watched Jane help Thor stand on his skates. Once he had mastered that, she had tried to teach him how to glide forward, but the toe pick had thrown him for a loop. Undeterred, he happily had gotten back up, eager to try again. Seeing him uncoordinated at something was hilarious by itself, but watching him flail like he was a baby animal trying to learn to walk was what made it even better because he was so happy about it.

Her phone vibrated in her jacket pocket, and she pulled it out. Seeing she had a few new text messages, she quickly read them. It was from Bucky, saying he had walked with Steve to the ice rink. But when he, Bucky, had seen the skaters, he'd had what he'd previously called a memory explosion - when some old memory suddenly becomes clear in his mind. It could be a good or a bad thing. This time, it was a bad thing, as he remembered an op he'd been on as the Winter Soldier that involved seducing a mark on an ice rink and inflicting damage with an ice skate. Darcy shuddered at that thought, and felt horrible for Bucky. Bucky also said not to worry, as he'd called his shrink, and wanted Darcy to have a fun night with Steve. She texted back that she hoped he would get through this okay, and that she would talk to him tomorrow.

Just as she put her phone back in her pocket, Steve joined her on her bench. She looked up at him, smiled, and bumped him in the shoulder. He returned her smile with one that left her feeling weak in the knees. She was glad to be sitting down.

"So Buck," he started. She nodded, hoping he wouldn't continue so their night wouldn't have too dark of a cloud hanging over it.

"You ever go skating before?" she asked, watching him struggle somewhat as he laced up his skates.

He chuckled. "No. Can you tell?"

She stood up and moved in front of him, kneeling on one knee so that she could undo some of the kinks in his laces and redo them. "Just a little bit." She met his eyes, smirking.

He watched her expertly tie his skates with a practiced precision. "You've obviously skated before," he stated. She nodded. Then she patted the top of one of his knees as she stood back up, holding out one of her hands for him to use to pull himself up. He hesitantly took it, standing slowly. He felt pretty good about himself until he tried to take a step, and then one of his feet wobbled.

"Careful there. We don't have to go too fast," she cautioned, leading him over to the ice. "You don't want to be too stiff because then it will hurt when you do fall." Pausing she turned to look at him, and added, "and you will fall."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Darce." She stepped on the ice and took both of his hands. He put one foot carefully on the ice and then the next. She skated backwards as he very slowly moved forward.

She shrugged and grinned. "Everyone falls. It comes with the territory. Just trying to be realistic. Now remember, there's a toepick at the front of the blade. That's used to dig into the ice to get a bit of a grip for when you take a stride."

He nodded, lifting one foot up and dug the toepick of the skate into the ice. "Good to be reminded."

She went through a few more things with him, skating backwards as she talked, somewhat pulling him along. He seemed to be doing fairly well, or so he thought. Then she let go of his hands. "You ready to try by yourself?"

"I think so. I'll just go slow. And you'll be near?" She nodded, and he took in her rosy cheeks, admiring how they matched the shade she'd used on her mouth. She was wearing a blue peacoat with bright green mittens, and left her hair down, curls spilling over her shoulders. When the lights caught her hair just right, it almost seemed to sparkle. He wondered if that was something to do with the ice and the mild-ish temperatures, or something else. Either way, she looked beautiful, and he told himself he needed to tell her that before the night was over.

He took a few tentative, small strides, happy that he was moving forward and still upright. She was right by his side, asking him how his day was, and then how the Rockettes show was when he'd told her about that. By the time he had a little wobbly step, he'd realized they were halfway around the rink.

"You're doing awesome, Steve. I'm impressed. You're picking this up way faster than Thor." She grabbed his upper arm, and they continued to skate. He noticed that he felt more confident skating with her touching him.

"Well, I am a bit more patient than he is, I imagine." He looked over to the other side of the ice where Thor and Jane were holding hands as Jane seemed to be explaining something to him.

Darcy laughed. "Very true. Plus, you know, enhanced super soldier who learns things way fast. That's gotta help, too." She reached her other hand over to the arm she was already holding and patted the arm.

"You're saying I'm not a natural skater? That I'll never be the next, um, ah, I don't know any famous male skaters off-hand."

"Brian Boitano?" Darcy suggested with a giggle.

Steve quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?" She nodded. "Okay, Brian Boitano."

"You may wear spandex to fight crime, but I can't see you in any sparkly get-ups while doing triple axels, Steve." Again, she patted his arm. "But, what's the skating world's loss is the rest of the world's gain."

He smiled, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "I'll just have to set another goal then, I suppose."

They continued to skate around the rink, and he continued to become more and more confident with each lap. Sometimes they had a running commentary on the other skaters, and sometimes they talked about nothing and everything, and sometimes they skated in silence. But even when Darcy could tell Steve could skate without her holding his arm, she still held it.

As the end of their skating time drew near, Darcy whirled around so she was skating backwards in front of Steve, holding both of his hands, grinning.

"I'm glad you came," she said simply.

He smiled. "Me, too. You are a very good teacher."

Even with her rosy cheeks, he knew she blushed. "Well, I try. It's easy with a good student, like yourself."

Suddenly she stopped skating, and he didn't stop fast enough, so he sort of ran into her. He brought his arms around her, so that they were essentially hugging each other and somewhat spinning on the ice. Both were giggling.

"I've been meaning to tell you, you look beautiful tonight," Steve said quickly, before he lost his nerve and before his missed the moment.

Instead of replying, Darcy stood up on her toepicks and pressed her lips to Steve's, bringing her mittened hands around the back of his neck. He immediately responded, his arms finding their place at her shoulders and small of her back, and his lips crushing against hers.

When the two pulled back to catch their breath, it may just have been the two of them who noticed or even saw, but they would swear to anyone else at the rink that night that it had started snowing at exactly that moment with the big kind of snowflakes that stick to your hair and coat and look so perfect that they look fake. It was a perfect way to end their perfect night of skating at Rockefeller Center.

"Look," Steve murmured, pointing at the big tree all lit up. "The snow just makes everything look and feel more magical."

Darcy nodded and leaned in to kiss him again.

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Still playing catch-up from the days I missed with the ear/sinus crap. Thanks again to those reading and reviewing! It is greatly appreciated!

Finally - Merry Christmas to all those celebrating! May your day be merry and bright!


	11. Day 10

**_On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... ten lords-a-leaping ..._**

_December 22nd_

Darcy found herself at SHIELD on a Saturday. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but this was one of the rare times she was there not to do work. She was there to, hopefully, drop off today's gift with Bucky for Steve, if Bucky was up for it. Steve hadn't really said much about how Bucky was doing last night. To be honest, she had kind of stopped him from going into detail about it when he'd met her at the rink, but it wasn't the right place to discuss it.

She stopped at her desk on her way to the quarters where Bucky was staying and noticed something on her desk that wasn't there when she'd left on Friday. Leaning in closer to look, she started to laugh. It was a little Lego minifigure of Captain America, complete with his little shield. It had been placed right next to her Fury bobblehead, so she knew it must be from her Secret Santa. She gave bobble-Fury a tap on his head and continued to Bucky's quarters.

She had texted him earlier to give him a head's up that she was on her way over, but she hadn't heard anything back. She stood outside his door, hoping he was okay, and knocked gently. She'd seen him through a few rough patches during his recovery thus far, at least after he'd been out of the intense rehab. They'd gotten better with the more visits to his psychiatrist he'd attended and more interaction with people within SHIELD, but he hadn't had much outside stimulation. So she was worried that the triggers he'd experienced last night could set him back, just as he'd begun to reconnect with Steve.

She heard feet shuffling towards the door, and then it opened slowly. Bucky peered warily around the edge, his hair sticking up in all directions, dark circles under his eyes, a day or two's worth of scruff on his face.

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Can you?" He stepped back, opening the door a bit more, allowing her in.

She gave him a small smile at his attempt at humor as she followed him in. She'd only been inside his place a handful of times, as they usually had watched movies and visited in a communal room not far from her office that was rarely used that had a comfy couch and large TV. Bucky's quarters were small, with a tiny kitchenette, closet-sized bathroom, and combined bedroom/living room.

He sat on his futon-bed and gestured for her to sit on the nearby oversized chair. He was wearing a faded grey t-shirt and navy sweatpants. She thought he must really be feeling down if he wasn't concerned with covering his left arm.

"How are you doing?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

He met her gaze and held it for a while, taking a few deep breaths before he replied. "Up and down. It just came out of nowhere, and some of the things the shrink taught me to help with these memories in the past and last night don't seem to be helping as much as I want."

She wanted to get up and sit next to him, or give him a hug, to provide some sort of comfort through physical contact, but she knew that he needed to be the one to initiate it when he was in moods like this. She hadn't found out the hard way, thankfully, but he had told her that earlier. She'd come to think of Bucky like a brother in their friendship, especially now that she'd seen how he was around Steve, and it pained her to see him hurting. He had trusted her with a lot before she'd brought him to see Steve, despite his reluctance to let people call him anything other than Barnes or Sergeant Barnes.

"I know it might not seem like a lot, and I wish I could think of something else to say, but I'm sorry." She stopped herself from picking at her nails, a nervous habit of hers, by putting her hands under her thighs.

"Eh, it's just. The memories are a part of me, ya know. I did them. And somehow, someday, it'll all, like, 'reconcile' into me. But for now, there's this weird disconnect where it feels like I'm remembering someone else's life. Which makes them even more horrifying." He sighed, his shoulders sagging further as he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. He motioned with his head for her to come sit beside him, and she didn't need to be asked twice. She sat on his right side, one arm stretched around his back hugging him, the other arm running up and down on his arm in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

There was another knock on the door. His head popped up, looking at her curiously. She held her hands up in mock defense. "I didn't tell anyone I was coming here, especially him. I wasn't even sure if you'd want me here, let alone if you'd feel up for delivering anything today. D'ya want me to answer?"

He shook his head and pointed at the bag on the floor next to her purse. "Is that today's?" She nodded. He stood and picked it up, setting it on the futon. "If it is Steve, he can stay, and so can you. Maybe having some other people around will help distract me for a bit, rather than dwell."

"Bucky, you don't have to do that. If you need time to be by yourself and do what you need to do, take it. I'm sure Steve will say the exact same thing." She started to stand, but he put his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down.

"I've had the time by myself, and maybe now I need a bit of company." He gave her a weak smile as he padded to the door. Sure enough, Steve was there, and he'd brought food. He was a bit surprised that Darcy had beaten him there, but wasn't surprised that she was there. Bucky had actually smiled at that because it was a nice feeling to know that the people he considered his closest friends were there for him when he needed them, even without being asked.

* * *

A while later, Bucky was laying on his futon wrapped in the comforter, while Darcy was sitting in the oversized chair again. Steve had dragged a chair from the tiny kitchen table over next to Darcy, and she was trying to explain who Michael Flatley was. Bucky had 'delivered' Steve's present to him when they had been eating, and Darcy had done her best to act surprised.

"So he just declared himself to be a lord of the dance?" Steve asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Essentially, yes. There was this special on TV called Riverdance, and he was on it, like was the breakout star. I guess he struck a chord with a certain set of people, my mom was one of them, who couldn't get enough of his Celtic dance moves, so there were a few more specials made." She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I never got it myself. It's kind of the same reason that Clay Aiken got so popular. A certain group of people just like attach themselves to someone and become superfans."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Clay Aiken?"

"Runner-up on a season of American Idol. Sang a lot of pop standards. Seemed pretty harmless, in terms of sex appeal. A few years later, came out as gay on the cover of People magazine and had a baby. And that's the extent of my knowledge of Clay Aiken."

Steve shook his head in confusion. "I don't know whether that explanation made me more confused or less confused. But I am mildly in awe of your pop culture knowledge." He heard Bucky snort, stifling laughter.

"Don't worry, Steve. Michael Flately really doesn't make sense to anyone. Just wait until you actually _watch_ the DVD." She reached over and patted his arm sympathetically, but had a smirk on her face.

"I am amused by the nine jumping frogs, or the 'Lords of the Flies,' as the card says." He leaned down and put one of the plastic frogs on the ground and pressed down with his pointer finger on the little flipper piece between their back legs. The frog leaped into the air, twisting a few times before falling to the ground. Both Steve and Darcy giggled.

Darcy stared over at Bucky, noticing his eyes were closed. It looked like his breathing had evened out. She stood up and walked over next to Steve, who had moved to pick up the frog. She tapped on his shoulder, and he turned to face her. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, "I think Bucky fell asleep."

Steve quickly looked at Bucky before looking down at Darcy. "I think you're right," he whispered back. "Want to come over to my place and be my guide as I watch this Lord of the Dance fellow?"

She giggled quietly and nodded. "Definitely."

The two quickly and quietly packed up their things and made their way out of Bucky's quarters. As the door shut, as quietly as Steve could possibly make it, Bucky's eyes opened a tiny bit. He smiled sleepily, tugged the comforter closer, and went back to sleep.

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Thanks all for reading and reviewing! I'm glad everyone is still enjoying this! I'm hoping to get the next few parts out over the next couple of days, so it'll only be a few days behind the actual days ... stupid ear/sinus stuff throwing me off my game! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas if they celebrated, or a wonderful Tuesday!

_December 22nd_

_On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... ten lords-a-leaping ..._

Darcy found herself at SHIELD on a Saturday. This wasn't the first time it had happened, but this was one of the rare times she was there not to do work. She was there to, hopefully, drop off today's gift with Bucky for Steve, if Bucky was up for it. Steve hadn't really said much about how Bucky was doing last night. To be honest, she had kind of stopped him from going into detail about it when he'd met her at the rink, but it wasn't the right place to discuss it.

She stopped at her desk on her way to the quarters where Bucky was staying and noticed something on her desk that wasn't there when she'd left on Friday. Leaning in closer to look, she started to laugh. It was a little Lego minifigure of Captain America, complete with his little shield. It had been placed right next to her Fury bobblehead, so she knew it must be from her Secret Santa. She gave bobble-Fury a tap on his head and continued to Bucky's quarters.

She had texted him earlier to give him a head's up that she was on her way over, but she hadn't heard anything back. She stood outside his door, hoping he was okay, and knocked gently. She'd seen him through a few rough patches during his recovery thus far, at least after he'd been out of the intense rehab. They'd gotten better with the more visits to his psychiatrist he'd attended and more interaction with people within SHIELD, but he hadn't had much outside stimulation. So she was worried that the triggers he'd experienced last night could set him back, just as he'd begun to reconnect with Steve.

She heard feet shuffling towards the door, and then it opened slowly. Bucky peered warily around the edge, his hair sticking up in all directions, dark circles under his eyes, a day or two's worth of scruff on his face.

"Can I come in?" she asked quietly.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Can you?" He stepped back, opening the door a bit more, allowing her in.

She gave him a small smile at his attempt at humor as she followed him in. She'd only been inside his place a handful of times, as they usually had watched movies and visited in a communal room not far from her office that was rarely used that had a comfy couch and large TV. Bucky's quarters were small, with a tiny kitchenette, closet-sized bathroom, and combined bedroom/living room.

He sat on his futon-bed and gestured for her to sit on the nearby oversized chair. He was wearing a faded grey t-shirt and navy sweatpants. She thought he must really be feeling down if he wasn't concerned with covering his left arm.

"How are you doing?" she asked, looking him in the eye.

He met her gaze and held it for a while, taking a few deep breaths before he replied. "Up and down. It just came out of nowhere, and some of the things the shrink taught me to help with these memories in the past and last night don't seem to be helping as much as I want."

She wanted to get up and sit next to him, or give him a hug, to provide some sort of comfort through physical contact, but she knew that he needed to be the one to initiate it when he was in moods like this. She hadn't found out the hard way, thankfully, but he had told her that earlier. She'd come to think of Bucky like a brother in their friendship, especially now that she'd seen how he was around Steve, and it pained her to see him hurting. He had trusted her with a lot before she'd brought him to see Steve, despite his reluctance to let people call him anything other than Barnes or Sergeant Barnes.

"I know it might not seem like a lot, and I wish I could think of something else to say, but I'm sorry." She stopped herself from picking at her nails, a nervous habit of hers, by putting her hands under her thighs.

"Eh, it's just. The memories are a part of me, ya know. I did them. And somehow, someday, it'll all, like, 'reconcile' into me. But for now, there's this weird disconnect where it feels like I'm remembering someone else's life. Which makes them even more horrifying." He sighed, his shoulders sagging further as he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. He motioned with his head for her to come sit beside him, and she didn't need to be asked twice. She sat on his right side, one arm stretched around his back hugging him, the other arm running up and down on his arm in what she hoped was a soothing manner.

There was another knock on the door. His head popped up, looking at her curiously. She held her hands up in mock defense. "I didn't tell anyone I was coming here, especially him. I wasn't even sure if you'd want me here, let alone if you'd feel up for delivering anything today. D'ya want me to answer?"

He shook his head and pointed at the bag on the floor next to her purse. "Is that today's?" She nodded. He stood and picked it up, setting it on the futon. "If it is Steve, he can stay, and so can you. Maybe having some other people around will help distract me for a bit, rather than dwell."

"Bucky, you don't have to do that. If you need time to be by yourself and do what you need to do, take it. I'm sure Steve will say the exact same thing." She started to stand, but he put his hand on her shoulder, pushing her back down.

"I've had the time by myself, and maybe now I need a bit of company." He gave her a weak smile as he padded to the door. Sure enough, Steve was there, and he'd brought food. He was a bit surprised that Darcy had beaten him there, but wasn't surprised that she was there. Bucky had actually smiled at that because it was a nice feeling to know that the people he considered his closest friends were there for him when he needed them, even without being asked.

_*br*_

A while later, Bucky was laying on his futon wrapped in the comforter, while Darcy was sitting in the oversized chair again. Steve had dragged a chair from the tiny kitchen table over next to Darcy, and she was trying to explain who Michael Flatley was. Bucky had 'delivered' Steve's present to him when they had been eating, and Darcy had done her best to act surprised.

"So he just declared himself to be a lord of the dance?" Steve asked, his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Essentially, yes. There was this special on TV called Riverdance, and he was on it, like was the breakout star. I guess he struck a chord with a certain set of people, my mom was one of them, who couldn't get enough of his Celtic dance moves, so there were a few more specials made." She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I never got it myself. It's kind of the same reason that Clay Aiken got so popular. A certain group of people just like attach themselves to someone and become superfans."

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Clay Aiken?"

"Runner-up on a season of American Idol. Sang a lot of pop standards. Seemed pretty harmless, in terms of sex appeal. A few years later, came out as gay on the cover of People magazine and had a baby. And that's the extent of my knowledge of Clay Aiken."

Steve shook his head in confusion. "I don't know whether that explanation made me more confused or less confused. But I am mildly in awe of your pop culture knowledge." He heard Bucky snort, stifling laughter.

"Don't worry, Steve. Michael Flately really doesn't make sense to anyone. Just wait until you actually _watch_ the DVD." She reached over and patted his arm sympathetically, but had a smirk on her face.

"I am amused by the nine jumping frogs, or the 'Lords of the Flies,' as the card says." He leaned down and put one of the plastic frogs on the ground and pressed down with his pointer finger on the little flipper piece between their back legs. The frog leaped into the air, twisting a few times before falling to the ground. Both Steve and Darcy giggled.

Darcy stared over at Bucky, noticing his eyes were closed. It looked like his breathing had evened out. She stood up and walked over next to Steve, who had moved to pick up the frog. She tapped on his shoulder, and he turned to face her. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in his ear, "I think Bucky fell asleep."

Steve quickly looked at Bucky before looking down at Darcy. "I think you're right," he whispered back. "Want to come over to my place and be my guide as I watch this Lord of the Dance fellow?"

She giggled quietly and nodded. "Definitely."

The two quickly and quietly packed up their things and made their way out of Bucky's quarters. As the door shut, as quietly as Steve could possibly make it, Bucky's eyes opened a tiny bit. He smiled sleepily, tugged the comforter closer, and went back to sleep.


	12. Day 11

**_On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... eleven pipers piping ..._**

_December 23nd_

Before she'd left the SHIELD building yesterday, Darcy had left Day 11's present in a drawer in her desk. While she was at Steve's last night, she'd noticed he didn't have a Christmas tree up. She'd teased him a bit about that, but he admitted ruefully that he and Bucky hadn't ever really been able to afford to get a tree when they'd lived together after moving out of the orphanage. At that point, she just wished she hadn't needled that fact out of him, as it broke her heart to hear it. It also gave her an idea that worked quite well with the present for that day.

She hadn't put her own tree up that year because she had one at work, where she'd been spending a majority of her time lately, and when she was at the Tower, it was like Christmas had exploded all over that place. So after a quick phone call checking in with Bucky, who assured her that he was feeling much better that day and was up to dropping off the present as he was scheduled for some training with Coulson, she started to put her plan in motion. She packed up her tree and tree skirt. Her tree was pre-lit, so she didn't need to worry about packing any lights. She found the Rubbermaid container where she kept her ornaments, and after digging around inside for a few minutes, she found what she was looking for. She knew she still wanted to stop at her favorite thrift store before heading over to Steve's.

* * *

Steve was in his kitchen, looking to see if had ingredients to make something that would go with that day's present that Bucky had recently dropped off. He had just found a container of sugar when he heard a knock at his door. He walked over to open it, not bothering to look through the peep hole, thinking it was Bucky coming back for something, and when he threw open the door, a quip ready for Bucky, he was surprised to see Darcy standing there, her arms full.

"Um, hi," she said, a shy smile playing at her lips.

The expression of surprise on Steve's face shifted to a large smile. "Hi!" For a moment, the two just stared at each other, smiling, before Steve's manners kicked in. "Oh, let me help you with those and please, come in." He took several of the bags she had been carrying and moved aside as she walked into the apartment.

She set what she was carrying down near his couch, and he did the same. He then looked closer at what she'd brought over and recognized one of the boxes as one that contained an artificial Christmas tree.

"Steve," Darcy began, and he turned to face her, "I didn't realize until last night that your apartment hasn't been touched by the Christmas fairy."

He raised an eyebrow. "Christmas fairy?"

She nodded, putting her hands on her hips, a smirk appearing on the corner of her mouth. "This place hardly seems to reflect that a major holiday is coming up. And how is Santa going to know where to put the presents? There is no tree! No stockings hung by the fireplace with care! And most importantly," she paused, reaching into one of the many bags, and pulled out a little sprig of some plant, "no mistletoe!" She held it above her head, her smirk changing to a wide grin, and looked expectantly at Steve, first at his lips, then meeting his eyes.

"And you brought all of this … for me?" he asked, incredulously. She nodded, and looked up at the mistletoe, quickly licking her bottom lip. He closed the space between them with two large steps and pressed his lips to hers, his arms encircled her waist, bringing her flush to him. She was taken by surprise at this, and the mistletoe was carelessly tossed to the wayside as her hands found their way to his neck, her mouth opening as she lightly bit on his bottom lip. That resulted in one of his hands finding its way to the sliver of bare skin at her waist where the tank top under her sweater had ridden up. His hand moved tentatively, as she let out a soft gasp of pleasure and unexpectedness at Steve's boldness, but soon his fingers were feathering soft circles over her lower back. He moved his lips from mouth, placing kisses along her jawline before settling on her neck.

Things were continuing to heat up, and Darcy still wanted to get some of the decorations up, so with regret, she placed her hands on his upper arms, lightly kissing the corner of his mouth. "Steve," she began, but he seemed undeterred. "Steve, honey, the tree," she tried again, placing one of her hands on the center of his chest, pushing gently.

Reluctantly he pulled back, his arms again settling on her lower back, his thumbs rubbing lazy circles under her tank. He rested his forehead on hers, breathing heavily. He took in her kiss-swollen lips and flushed cheeks and her sparkling eyes and smiled. "How did you know?"

She smiled back up at him, pulling her head back a bit, and quirked her brow. "About you never having had your own tree?" He nodded. "Well, maybe a little birdie told me that back in the day, the two of you couldn't afford one. So I figured you wouldn't think to necessarily decorate this year."

His arms tightened around her again, but this time pulling her into a crushing hug, almost as if he had forgotten his super strength for a moment before he remembered. "Thank you," he said quietly, his words muffled a bit by her hair. "I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you or thank you enough," he added, letting go and taking a step back.

Darcy pretended to think for a moment, tapping a finger on her chin, and reached down into a nearby bag, pulling a Santa hat out. Then an evil grin spread across her face. "You're tall, so that'll help with some of the decorating, as the tree is pretty big. How 'bout you wear this hat while doing it? It'll help you get in the holiday spirit?"

He grinned, catching the hat as she tossed it to him, and pulled it on his head. "Feeling merrier already," he teased.

She walked around the bags and sat on his couch, the grin still on her face. He was somewhat concerned by that, as he was already wearing a silly hat, as he knew she must have something else up her sleeve. "And, how 'bout you lose your shirt, soldier?"

His grin slipped and he felt his face flush. "Beg pardon?"

Her grin grew more catlike and wider. "Well, you mentioned something about repaying me, and I think shirtless tree decorating is a start."

He took a deep breath, as an idea formed in his head - one that he even surprised himself with, as it wasn't something he'd ever imagined doing or saying. But with her, with Darcy, who had worked her way into his heart and into his life as naturally and as comfortably as she was sitting on his couch, it felt right. Raising an eyebrow, he reached for the top button of his button-down. He suppressed a smile as he noticed her eyes widen. He began to unbutton his shirt, keeping his eyes locked with hers. When he reached the bottom, he untucked the shirt, revealing his white t-shirt underneath, but the button-down was still on, just unbuttoned. He paused and noticed that Darcy absentmindedly licked her lips. He felt the tips of his ears redden and broke eye contact momentarily.

"Steve," Darcy said quietly, standing up and moving closer to him, "you don't have to do this if you don't feel comfortable. I wasn't being serious. I know you're uncomfortable with being eye-candy because you still feel like skinny-Steve, but I'd find you attractive and sexy that way, and I'd still like you." She paused, stepping forward and placing a hand over his heart. "Because you'd still be Steve. Just different packaging, same insides."

He looked down at her hand before looking back up at her, meeting her gaze and smiling. He brought one of his hands up to pull hers that was resting on him away, and with his other hand, started to shrug his button-down off. Darcy looked at him curiously, and the corner of his mouth turned up. He threw his button-down onto the nearby chair, and with one hand, reached for the bottom hem of his white t-shirt.

"What are you doing?"

He paused. "Working on repaying a dame, I mean, a woman I like, who just told me she likes me, for something really nice she did for me." He saw her mouth drop open a bit upon hearing this, so he leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her lips before he pulled his t-shirt off, throwing it on the same chair. He reached up to make sure the Santa hat was still securely on.

"Steve, I just, I mean -." Her face was flushing now as she stammered, looking up at his eyes before looking down again, struggling to maintain eye contact.

He smiled, feeling less nervous than he would have expected at this point. He'd made her almost speechless, which he'd never thought he'd be able to do. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "Before we get started with the tree, I think we should be on a little more of an even playing field." She raised her eyebrows, curious where he was going with this. "If I'm shirtless, I think you should take off your sweater, as I know you have some sort of undershirt on underneath."

She narrowed her lips into a thin line in contemplation and then unzipped her sweater. "Okay, but just the sweater. I don't think we're quite ready for that next step."

"Yet," he replied quickly, smiling. She nodded, smiling back.

* * *

A while later, Darcy and Steve were both comfortably resting on the couch. Steve was still without his shirt, but Darcy had draped a shorter bit of extra silver garland they'd had around his neck like a scarf, which he hadn't taken off. She was resting comfortably against him, his arm draped lazily over her shoulders as his fingers traced patterns on her arm.

He sighed contentedly, looking back at the red bow he'd found among the boxes of decorations and tied to her ponytail.

"How did you manage to find so many of those ornaments?"

She smiled, gazing at the glowing and sparkling tree. "Which ones?" she asked, knowing exactly which ones he meant.

"The Shiny Brite ones! We had a few of those when I was a kid," Steve replied excitedly.

Darcy turned her head to look up at him, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. His reaction to those ornaments, combined with his general excitement to decorating his apartment for Christmas, had made her feel like a kid again that afternoon. She hadn't had that much fun decorating a tree in years.

"I've picked up a few at a thrift stores to match the ones my mom gave me that were her mom's," Darcy explained. Steve pulled her tighter to him, and she brought her left arm across his stomach, her fingers brushing his right side. She noticed his muscles tense a bit at her touch, but didn't let it detract her from her mission. While decorating shirtless, or in her case in her tank top, she had discovered that his skin was so warm and soft, so she had kept finding ways to brush up against him. Now that she was next to him on the couch, there was no excuse for her not to be taking advantage of his closeness, just as he was doing the same by ghosting his fingers on one of her arms, which was slowly but surely driving her crazy in a good way.

"Darcy, if I haven't told you before," Steve began, looking down to meet her eyes through his long lashes, "you're amazing." He brought his free hand to hers that was brushing at his side and brought her hand up to where his heart was beating rapidly.

Her eyes widened. "Steve, if any of this is making you uncomfortable, I mean, I know I can be a bit forward." She looked away from him and started to pull away, but he held her close to him. "You could've left your shirt on, ah, it was just me teasing, you know." She knew she was starting to babble, but she didn't know what he was getting at with her hand on his heart like that. Then she looked back up at him and noticed he was still smiling.

"When have I done something I haven't wanted to do?" he teased. He removed his arm from around her shoulder and brush his thumb across her cheek. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty stubborn." He gave her a half-smirk.

"So, the heart racing is a good thing?" He nodded. "I heard the 'you're amazing' part and I was waiting for a 'but' because I'm me, and can sometimes be a bit cynical." He quirked an eyebrow. She laughed. "All right, a lot cynical."

He suddenly stood up, still holding on to the hand that he'd had on his heart. "I've got an idea. My Secret Santa gave me some icing pipers today to ice cookies. I was in the process of making cookies, well, rather was looking for ingredients to make cookies when you got here. How about we bake some cookies?"

She stood as well. "And then we'll be pipers piping?"

"Sounds about right. Although, since we'll be working with food, it might be a good idea to cover up a bit more. Good hygiene and all. " He reached for his white t-shirt and saw her roll her eyes.

"If we _have_ to." He held his hand out for hers and she grabbed it with a squeeze. "For the record, you're pretty amazing, too, Steve."

* * *

_Author's Note:__ So sorry for the huge delay! Holidays, a cold and work put a cramp on my writing. Plus I was hit with a bunch of ideas for a longer fic series I've been planning/plotting to post here, and until I got those out of my head, my brain didn't want to think of anything else! The end is in sight here, and should be up in a few. Thanks for all of your patience and feedback - I'm truly grateful that you've taken the time to read this!_


	13. Day 12

**_On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... twelve drummers drumming …_**

_December 24th_

Darcy woke up the next morning from what she thought had been the best night's sleep she'd had in a long time. As she was about to stretch, an arm tightened around her waist, pulling her closer back into a warm body. It took her a minute for her to remember where she was, and then the prior evening's events came back to her as the sleep cleared her head.

After baking and icing the cookies last night, the two had decided they needed to sample a few. Then Darcy had suggested they should see if any Christmas movies were on TV, since Steve was still way behind in catching up on those. As luck would have it, 'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation' was on, so they watched that. When they reached the scene where Clark Griswold put cooking spray on his sled, she had looked expectantly at Steve, wondering if he had ever used his shield as a sled, and if not, could they. He had laughed instead of answering, choosing to lightly massage the back of her neck, working his way up to her hairline. Her reaction had been to practically purr with delight and curl into him, and he made a note of that to keep in mind for future reference.

When the movie had finished, the rest of the cookies put away, and the dishes in the dishwasher much to Steve's dismay - he had said it would be just as easy to wash them by hand - Darcy realized how late it had gotten. Ever chivalrous, Steve didn't want her to go home by herself at such a late hour, and a wave of déjà vu swept over her as he offered up his bed while he would sleep on the couch. This time, however, she merely raised her eyebrows at him, the 'really' she would have asked implicit in her face, and he ducked his head, laughing nervously.

_"Steve, I'd say after the day we've had, hell, after the last week and a half we've had - no, kind of the whole progression of our friendship, can you honestly say that sharing a bed doesn't seem all that strange of a suggestion?" she asked, bringing a hand to cover his that was rubbing the back of his neck nervously._

_He shrugged. "I, uh, well, I mean, it, ah, just wasn't, you know, something that was, um, considered proper."_

_She brought her other hand over to his face and cupped his chin, raising his head up so she could look him in the eye. "I realize that the times have changed, and things that were considered taboo or not proper have now become more acceptable. If it will really make you that uncomfortable, then I have no problems sleeping on the couch. It's quite comfy; I don't mind." She leaned forward, brushing her lips over his._

_Sighing, he rested his forehead on hers. "Uncomfortable really isn't the right word. Awkward, maybe. But with you, definitely not uncomfortable." She opened her mouth to say something, but he brought two fingers to her lips to shush her. "Okay, just heard that how you probably did, and yes, I'm aware there is likely a joke in there. Let's just pretend that I wasn't going for the joke version, all right?" She chuckled, and kissed the fingers keeping her quiet. He held her gaze for a few moments, and in those moments, everything seemed to fall into place._

_He removed his hand from the back of his neck and stood up a bit straighter, and walked over to his dresser. "You'll probably want a sleep shirt, I'm guessing?" he asked. He looked at her over his shoulder to see her mouth agape. He smiled._

Darcy glanced over at the clock on the bedside table. For all of the crazy hours she sometimes had to work, SHIELD did have its perks, such as its generous amount of holiday days, including Christmas Eve. She hoped he didn't have some alarm set to go off early, as she knew he was often up early - old military habits are hard to break, Darce, he'd said - but she thought his internal clock would maybe let him sleep in if he had a change of routine. And, she guessed, having someone curled to his side, as she was currently doing, was definitely a change of routine for him.

She rolled over a bit more onto her side, facing him, where he was halfway on his side by moreso on his stomach, one of his arms protectively laying over her waist - the one keeping her from getting out of bed or reaching too far earlier. His head was buried in his fluffy pillow, hair slightly askew, mouth parted slightly, and his long eyelashes brushed the top of his cheeks. She was envious of those eyelashes and had told him so once, which had resulted in the most adorable blush, something she had not expected from Captain America. Lying there asleep, he looked so boyish and innocent, not as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, a look she sometimes saw on him post-battle. She wished she could bottle the look up somehow so she could give him this feeling of freeness and relaxation when he needed it most.

"You know, if you take a picture, it last longer," Steve said, his voice thick with sleep. His slowly opened his eyes, but then narrowed them into slits at the bright light of the sun. His lips turned up in a smile as he brought Darcy even closer to him in a quick squeeze-hug, relaxing his arm, but noticing that she didn't move away from him.

She hummed in response as she took a free hand and started to trace patterns on his shoulder blade. "Sorry if my staring woke you up," she teased back. "Waking up doesn't mean you have to get up, you know."

"Of course not." He was grinning now, his blue eyes absolutely sparkling in the morning sun.

Her fingers had found a slight knot in his muscles and rather than continue to dance around his back, she started to work gently on the knot. The slight moan of pleasure he made the more she worked at getting the knot out only encouraged her. She pushed herself up on her other elbow to give her a better angle, as the arm around her waist slid to her side, and began running up and down her side. Steve's hand then moved to the small of her back, and she shivered. She was only wearing one of his shirts, oversized on her as pajamas, and her underwear. She almost had the knot out, and his hand on her back roamed teasingly close to her ass. She threw her left leg over his, and as she finally massaged the knot out, his lips crushed hers, his last moan escaping into her mouth.

* * *

The night before, after they'd been in bed for a bit, she'd gotten up to find his bathroom, but instead put his last Secret Santa present under the tree. As she was sitting on a stool eating the wonderful breakfast, or rather brunch, Steve had made them, she was anxiously waiting for him to find it. She knew they were technically supposed to wait until the party at the Tower for the reveal to their Santees, but she didn't want to wait.

"You know, you do have a dishwasher," she reminded him, after he took their plates to the sink. She didn't want to have to wait for him to do the dishes before he found the gift.

He turned to face her, shrugging as he smiled. "I know, but I like hand washing. Reminds me a bit of being a kid. It's weird, I know."

She stood up from her stool and walked over to him, putting her arms around his waist, her head on his back. "Steeeeve," she whined, "c'mon. It's Christmas Eve. It's sweet that it reminds you of being a kid. But of all days, I think today is a good day to let modern technology take over."

He turned around quickly, pulling her back slightly so she wouldn't bump or fall into anything. He pretended to sigh dramatically. "I suppose on holidays the dishwasher can do its job. I do need to figure out when to give Tony the last part of his gift."

Darcy topped off both of their mugs of coffee, emptying the pot so it could be added to the dishwasher. After it was fully loaded, packet of soap added, and started, the two finally made their way into the living room, settling on the couch. Her knee was bouncing in excitement when she saw his eyes go to the tree.

He walked over and knelt down, picking up the final day's gift with the note card attached. He turned to face her, his brow furrowed. "This wasn't here last night, right?" She shook her head. "And I know Bucky still has my extra key, but while he's sneaky, I'm pretty sure we'd have heard him."

She shrugged. "I didn't hear the door open," she said. He looked like he was still trying to figure out how the gift got there, and her knee began to bounce faster. "Steve," she began, hoping to snap him out of overthinking it, which it looked like she did, as he focused his gaze on her, "why don't you just read the card?"

"Oh, yeah." He walked back over to the couch, sitting next to Darcy. She was happy he wasn't right next to her, as she wasn't sure what his reaction was going to be. She knew what she hoped it would be, and if it was what she hoped, she could scoot on over.

He picked the card up and read:

_On the twelfth and final day of Christmas, Steve's tru wuv gave to him, twelve drummers drumming - pop this CD into the player and enjoy twelve tracks from twelve of the most rocking drummers of the past 70 years!_

_I hope you've enjoyed these Twelve Days of Christmas presents as much as I've enjoyed coming up with them. I was very happy to find out that I got to be your Secret Santa (and tru wuv, which I think works better to keep consistency with the original poem) this year! Your friendship has meant the world to me, and whatever uncharted course we are on now, I'm confident that between you and me, Star Spangled Man With a Plan, we'll chart our own path. Okay, super cheesy. But you can be cheesy at Christmas! _

_Finally - yes, this is a much longer card than normal, so thank god I'm delivering the gift rather than Bucky, as he always read the note before giving the gift to you - once these next couple of days are done, how about taking this gal out on a proper date?_

_XO,_

_Darcy_

She nervously played with the bottom of the new sweater cardigan she'd 'borrowed' from Steve's closet as she waited for him to finish reading the card. It was excruciating because she knew he was a fast reader, so she wondered if her handwriting was sloppy, but then she reminded herself that she'd typed the note and only signed her name. She got so caught up in her worries that when Steve placed a hand on her bouncing knee, she jerked her head up quickly, nearly jumping from the couch.

As he'd read through the card the first time, his breath had caught in his throat when he reached the bottom and saw the name. The second time reading it, he mentally kicked himself for not having figured out earlier who was behind the gifts. One of the first movies Darcy had had him watch with her was 'The Princess Bride.' While she had complained about Buttercup not being as 'badass as she could've been,' she had let out a dreamy sigh when Westley had said, 'Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while.' Then her face had reddened as she nervously turned to look at him, worried that she'd offended him with her choice of movie, knowing some of his history with Peggy Carter, and given that it had only been a couple of months since he'd been out of the ice. When he'd managed to get that out of her, as she had clammed up when she'd thought she had made a huge mistake, he'd thanked her for her concern, but said he wasn't sure if what they'd had was true love, as things had been cut short before they had a chance to really find out. They watched the rest of the movie after that, and Darcy had reached over and taken his hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. When she had moved to take it away, Steve hung on, as the reality of his situation - being in the future, alone, having lost so many of his friends - had finally started to sink in. Their eyes had met, and that's when Steve had realized maybe he didn't have to be so alone, not with what he hoped was a new friend.

He looked back down at the card again before looking her in the eye. She smiled nervously and placed one of her hands on top of his that was on her knee, giving it a squeeze. He returned her smile, noticing the way the light caught her eyes, and highlighted her cheekbones. His fingers itched to sketch her in this light, especially now that he has had the chance to study her up close and personal.

"A proper date?" he asked shyly, feeling his cheeks redden. He felt her squeeze his hand again.

"Isn't that what a fella does for his girl? Take her out some place nice, maybe end the nice with some dancing?" She was grinning now, and he felt his blush spread at her attempts at slang from his era.

He couldn't help but grin back, as he knew exactly how to answer. "As you wish."

* * *

Natasha was in the small room off of the training room at the Tower that was typically used for yoga, mainly by Bruce, but she often used it for that as well. She'd gone through several poses and was now in the King Pigeon Pose, essentially forming a triangle with her body by leaning backwards on her knees. It was good for her lower back, and since she'd been having some issues there lately, she had been spending extra time on poses that focused on that area.

She heard the door open followed by the soft footsteps she had come to learn were Dr. Banner's. Giving the pose one last push further, she straightened herself out and relaxed down into Child's Pose. After holding the pose for a few minutes, she sat upright and brought her legs out from under her. She noticed Bruce looking around for his yoga mat and smiled to herself.

"Can't find something?" she asked as she stood up.

"Yeah, I can't find my yoga mat. Did you see it when you first came in?"

She shook her head, walking over to a chair near the door where she'd put her shoes. She reached behind the chair and pulled out a roll with a bow on it. "I did see this," she said, tossing it to him.

He caught it easily and looked at the attached tag. "You! I've been looking at this mat for quite a while," he mused.

"And talking about it every so often in here. Jarvis helped with the brand name," she replied, tying the laces on her left shoe.

He raised an eyebrow. "And the tea, I know I've mentioned that. But how did you know about the Muppets?"

She finished tying her other shoe and stood up. A sly smile spread across her face. "A spy has her secrets," she answered, walking towards the door.

Just as she was about out the door, she heard a soft 'thank you' from Bruce. She paused and looked over her shoulder at him. With a nod, she then continued out the door.

* * *

Clint was spinning around on a chair inside of Pepper's office, waiting for her to return from lunch. When he heard her voice outside the door, he planted his feet on the ground. That didn't stop the room from spinning in his head for a few moments.

"Clint!" Pepper exclaimed, bringing a hand to her chest. "What are you doing here?"

He stood up, feeling a bit wobbly, so he closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, Pepper had taken off her coat and was staring at him strangely. Then she looked behind him at the chair and back up at him. She smirked and walked to her desk.

Sitting back down in the chair, he pulled it up to her desk and slid the piece of paper he'd placed on it earlier towards her. "Merry Christmas from your Secret Santa!"

He watched her eyes open wide as she read it, and then her shoulders began to shake as she started laughing. "A 'Get Tony Stark Out of Your Hair' Card? Seriously?" He squirmed nervously in the chair, unsure if the laughter, and her subsequent comments, were good things. The next thing he knew, she was rushing around the desk and enveloping him in a hug.

"This is probably the best present ever, and I say this as Tony's loving girlfriend. The only downsides to this present are that there is only one and that it must be redeemed in a year." She started giggling.

He chuckled, one corner of his mouth turning up. "Yeah, I figured I had to put a few restrictions on it, otherwise I'd hate myself for giving you the present."

"Well, thank you. This, along with your other presents, have been very thoughtful. I've really appreciated them."

He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm glad you liked 'em. I'd better get out of your hair now myself, so you can make it to the party on time."

Just as she was about to reply, her cell phone and office phone rang. She sighed and went back to her desk. Clint gave her a wave as he went out into the hallway, thankful he only had one phone, and that he usually forgot to take off of silent.

* * *

Clint wandered into the science labs, absentmindedly going into Jane's lab first. He'd been going to find Tony, as the man had said he had some new trick arrows for him to try out.

Jane had heard the door open, expecting Darcy, and said, "So, did ya figure out who left you those awesome gifts? I've been meaning to come over and see bobble-Fury."

Clint stopped and laughed. "Bobble-Fury?"

Jane whipped around. "You're not Darcy!"

"Nope," Clint replied, looking down at himself, and then back up at Jane. "Think I would've remembered if something like that had changed." Seeing an empty lab table nearby, he hopped up on it.

Jane let out an exasperated sigh before letting a few giggles escape. "Okay, points for you. Plus, I don't think Darcy would've come into the lab without saying something right away."

Clint smirked. "Don't doubt you there. You've left me hanging on what a bobble-Fury is, though, Doc."

"Apparently Darcy's Secret Santa gave her a bobblehead made to look like Director Fury. She keeps it on her desk, but I haven't gotten a chance to go see it," Jane replied, leaning against a counter.

Clint nearly doubled over laughing. "That sounds amazing. I bet Coulson almost smiled at that!"

"Probably. Oh! And speaking of Secret Santas," she began, but paused as she started rummaging through a nearby cabinet and pulling something out, "here ya go!"

Clint looked down at the set of arrows she placed in his hands before looking back up at her. "You were my Santa?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. And these aren't technically a present so much as Stark asked me to get these to you, as he said he was working on something important in his workshop downstairs."

He hopped off the table, setting down the arrows carefully and pulled Jane in for a hug. "This won't get me on Thor's bad side, right?"

Laughing, she shook her head. "Have you met Thor? The man lives for hugs."

He considered what she said and smiled. "Thanks Jane. I don't know how you were to figure out everything, but it was awesome." He picked up his arrows again and headed for the door. He couldn't wait to take a closer look at them and show them off to Tasha.

"I may come across as absent-minded in Darcy's stories, but I have my ways." She smiled and turned back to the counter where whatever science she'd been working on was. "See you at the party Clint."

* * *

Natasha was carrying her latest Secret Santa gift into the common living room TV area, assuming that was where Clint was hanging out until the party. She still didn't know who her Secret Santa was, but he or she had excellent taste in presents, as this gift - a small hand knife she'd been after for a few years - was fantastic. As she neared the common living room, she heard voices, and one of them was a voice that caused a chill to run up her spine. She tightened her grip on her new knife as she crept around the corner and entered the room.

There on the couch sat Darcy, casually chatting with a man she hadn't seen in years. Someone she had never expected to see again. Someone who she considered a threat to be sitting that close and casual next to Darcy.

"Yasha," she said, her voice low. His head whipped up at her voice and his shoulders tensed, but she didn't see any hardness in his eyes, nor did she see him reach for any weapons.

"Natalia," he replied, his voice thick with emotion. Darcy reached up and put a hand on his shoulder, hoping to reassure him.

"See? What'd I tell ya Bucky, aren't the holidays the best time for reunions?" Darcy quipped, smiling as widely as she could at both Bucky and Natasha.

Natasha quirked her head. "Bucky?"

And before anyone had a chance to reply, Clint walked into the room. He quickly glanced at everyone in the room and then walked over to Natasha, putting a hand on her arm that was holding her knife.

"Sweet knife, Nat, but I don't think it'd be a good idea to test it out on Cap's best friend." He felt some of the tension release from Natasha as he brought his other arm around her shoulders.

She looked at him curiously. "Cap's best friend?" she asked him quietly.

Clint nodded. "Sergeant Bucky Barnes. A Howling Commando. Sniper. One of the top shots at the time, maybe still, allegedly."

Then everyone seemed to speak at once.

"Geezus, fanboy much, Barton?" Darcy muttered, rolling her eyes. "You're almost as bad as Coulson. Didn't know you were president of a Howling Commandos fan club."

"Allegedly?" Bucky asked, his voice rising in pitch. "Allegedly?"

"James, is it true?" Natasha asked, hoping to get Bucky's attention over all the confusion.

"I wasn't president of the club," Clint replied to Darcy, which caused her to grin.

Everyone was still talking over everyone else when Steve entered the room. Then the voices stopped. He looked at Darcy, who shrugged helplessly, and Steve seemed to understand what he walked into.

"So, um, this is Bucky. I've known him pretty much my whole life. He, ah, kind of went through some stuff, well, there was a train, and I kinda had that whole plane crash thing, and then there's that stuff, but it's more his story to share. I think you know him from earlier Natasha? But, he's been over at SHIELD, working with staff there, and Coulson, and learning about pop culture with Darcy, and yeah." Steve rubbed the back of his neck nervously, a small smile spreading across his face. He saw Darcy beaming at him, and Bucky nodded at him, a silent thank you mouthed.

There was a bit of an awkward silence before Clint piped up. "Well, Cap, that's all fine and dandy. But in a shoot-off, who'd win, me or him?"

Natasha turned her head sharply towards Clint, her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"He's seen both of us in action. I wanted his honest opinion." Clint shrugged.

Bucky started to laugh, and the uneasy tension in the room lifted. He stood up and walked over towards Clint. "They got a range or something in this place? Because I'd rather find out head-to-head than by someone's opinion." He was grinning as he held his hand out to shake Clint's.

Clint enthusiastically shook Bucky's hand, nodding. "Sure do. Let's go find out." The two started to walk out of the room, when Clint stopped and called over his shoulder, "Tash, Darce, Cap, you guys coming?" Only Steve declined.

* * *

Jane had left her lab to grab a bite to eat with Thor, and as the two walked back in, she found Dr. Banner fiddling with something on one of the counters. When he noticed that she had arrived, he moved to the side, and with as much of a flourish as he could muster - and it wasn't much - announced, "For science!"

Jane put her hands on her cheeks in surprise as she saw what had been behind him. She ran over towards it, her hands brushing over the new piece of equipment.

"Dr. Banner? Dare I ask what this is?" Thor asked, delighted that Jane was so happy.

Bruce chuckled. "I'd try to explain it, Thor, but to be honest, I don't know that I fully understand it. Maybe Jane'll have to do it later, once she gets done playing with it."

Thor smiled. "Indeed I will."

"Oh," Bruce began, picking up an envelope from a nearby table, "Pepper asked me to give this to you."

Thor took the card from him and opened it. Inside was a Christmas card and a note explaining that Pepper was his Secret Santa, and she was planning on making it to the party, but she may be late due to CEO business. Because of that, she wanted him to have his final gift - a Pop-Tarts Annual Subscription. She said she knew giving him something Pop-Tarts related was cliché, since he liked things other than that, but this would get him all the limited-edition flavors. He was touched at her thoughtfulness.

Jane had come over to his side at this point, and he shared his card with her. She grabbed his arm, leaning into him as she smiled. "I hope you'll share."

He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. "I believe that can be arranged."

* * *

The door to Tony's workshop slid open, and Steve walked in cautiously. He had a plan in his head for how he wanted this to go, and based on some earlier discreet conversations he'd had with Jarvis, the plan seemed like a good one. Jarvis's past advice, along with Darcy's advice, had been good for Tony's past two gifts.

Jarvis helpfully lowered the volume of the rock music playing, and Tony finally took notice of someone else in the workshop. Turning around on his stool, he asked, "What can I do for you, Cap?"

Steve winced at the use of 'Cap,' but knew that some of his teammates preferred it. He hoped at some point he'd be Steve to them when out of the uniform. "Hey Tony. What are you working on?" He walked over closer to the large table where Tony was working on what looked like part of his Iron Man suit.

Tony gave him a curious look. "Really? Um, okay. Well, I'm working on modifying the electrical output of the relays ..." he stopped and sighed. "Basically, I'm trying to make the power flow faster to give me quicker reaction and recovery times."

Steve nodded, smiling somewhat, as he thought he understood the mostly dumbed-down version of what Tony was working on. "That sounds pretty neat, Tony." He saw an empty stool nearby and pulled it over, sitting down. "Say, I heard you got an Erector set recently. Have you gotten a chance to make anything with that?"

And just like that, Tony lit up. He moved from the large table to the other end of it, still near where Steve was sitting, and pulled a dust cloth off. Underneath was the Erector set, open, and projects that were mostly assembled. He recognized a few from the pictures on the outside of the box.

"Wow, Tony. Want to tell me about what you've got going on here?" he asked with a smile.

Tony immediately began talking at a fast pace about the different items he was in the midst of building, dismissing the two engines that had come in the set, explaining that he had upgraded them to work on an even more miniaturized version of an arc reactor, and that he had hopped online to order some other kits to supplement this kit so he could build all of the models he'd always wanted to build.

"I started with the Lunar Explorer Module here," he said, holding up what looked like a very small car to show Steve, "but instead decided to revamp its construction based upon the designs NASA used for the Mars Rover Curiosity, since the Lunar Explorer was based on the original moon landing module designs from '69."

"Tony, I don't know much about space and NASA and Mars, but everything you have showed me looks really great. I don't think I could do even the basic stuff with this set, let alone the advanced stuff you're doing." Steve saw Tony smile genuinely at his words. "I'm not sure if I've ever said it, or if anyone on our rag-tag team has said it, but I'm really proud of all of the work you do for us, the equipment that keeps us safe, everything." He paused, standing up and walking towards Tony and the door to the lab. He placed a hand on Tony's shoulder and added, "I'm proud of you, Tony. Glad to see you're enjoying the set, and I hope you liked the sled, too."

"Steve?" He stopped, almost out of the lab, and looked over his shoulder to see Tony still standing near the table, holding a piece of the set in his hands, his eyes a bit watery. Steve nodded for him to continue. "Thanks. I'm not sure how you knew, though I'm suspecting Jarvis played a part, but, ah, I know I may have said everything special about you came out of a bottle," he paused, wincing, "because I was, and still am, so damn angry at my father for so many reasons, and some seemed to be associated with his quest to find you, who I didn't think I could ever live up to, and I just."

Steve cut him off, smiling sadly. "It's okay. I understand. Merry Christmas. I'll see you upstairs for the party later." Tony nodded.

* * *

By the time everyone arrived for the party, there were only a few people who didn't know the identities of their Secret Santas, which was to be expected given the people who were participating.

Tony quietly slid in, standing next to Natasha. "Already pulling your new knife on people, Ms. Romanoff?"

Natasha turned her head towards him, a brow raised. "So the thanks goes to you?"

"Would you have expected anyone else but me to have as an exquisite a taste in vodka, and the means to acquire it?" He smirked. "I'm just glad you didn't try to slice up Steve's BFF's arm. I put a lot of hard work into that thing."

"You?" she asked. "You knew he was back?"

He shook his head. "Only for a few days before this. I didn't know who I was designing it for at first. I think the only one who knew at first was Coulson, and even that was before _we_ knew Coulson was back. You knew him from your time spent learning the intricacies of Russian vodka?"

She looked at him sharply. "Yes, I did."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Didn't mean to hit a nerve. Looks like he and Clint seem to be hitting it off." He looked over to where the two were talking animatedly on the couch.

"There was a shoot-off earlier. It was amusing. And also what happens when you get two snipers together." Her words were intended to be cool and unattached, but Tony could tell there was more behind them.

"I'm sad to have missed it. I'm sure there will be more. However, I just saw the lovely Miss Potts enter, so I will have to bid you adieu at this time. Try to enjoy the evening a bit, Natasha?" He raised her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand as he wiggled his eyebrows flirtatiously. She rolled her eyes, and a hint of a smile played at her lips.

* * *

Thor had arrived with a large keg heaved over his shoulder. "Where is Son of Coul?" he asked the first person he saw as he stepped off the elevator. That person happened to be Bruce.

"Um, he's in the common area. But I think maybe we should take that into the kitchen?" Bruce pushed his glasses further up his nose, as this wasn't the strangest thing he'd seen Thor carrying.

Once the two arrived in the kitchen, Thor spotted Coulson and waved him over. Thor sat the keg down, and produced an Asgardian version of a tap from a satchel he'd had over his shoulder.

"Son of Coul," he began, clapping one arm around Coulson's shoulders, "you are a mighty warrior who returned from a very close encounter with death. I do not believe we have properly celebrated this. And in keeping in line with the feasting that I believe goes on with the Midgardian tradition of Christmas, and this Secret Santa, as my final gift to you, I present you with this keg of Asgardian Mead to aid in our fete!"

Phil Coulson, normally the personification of an ideal SHIELD agent - calm, cool, professional, never letting his emotions show - couldn't help but let his surprise show. He somewhat suspected that Thor was his Secret Santa, from the other gifts he had received, but he was so genuinely touched at Thor's thoughtfulness. "Thank you, Thor."

Thor moved away from Coulson, grabbing one of the mugs that someone, likely Pepper or Darcy, had suddenly placed on the counter, and filling it full. He filled another and brought both back over to Coulson, handing him one.

"Merry Christmas, Son of Coul. It is good that you back with us, sharing in our battles once again." Thor raised his mug, and Phil looked around the room to notice that everyone else had a mug as well, smiles on all of their faces, and he let another emotion show - happiness.

* * *

Bucky was sitting on the couch, enjoying his mead and the fact that Steve appeared to be getting a bit tipsy from it. He had whispered to Darcy earlier that it had been years since Steve had even been able to feel any effect of alcohol, so it might be a good idea to not only enjoy a buzzed Steve, but keep a watchful eye on him. With a knowing wink, she walked over to Steve.

When he turned to look next to him, Natasha had suddenly appeared. He took a long pull from his mug, and said, "So I can't say I ever expected to celebrate Christmas this way."

She quirked her head. "In what way? The 21st century, with the Thunder God and some of his mead, or in your own head?"

He chuckled. "How 'bout all of the above?" He took another sip of his mead. "Natalia, I'm sorry I didn't say anything about being back sooner. Hell, I didn't even say anything to Steve until a couple of weeks ago."

She shook her head, giving him a half-smile. "You have nothing to be sorry about, James. I'm only sorry I couldn't get you out sooner. I wanted to come back."

"I know," he replied softly. "I'm just glad that you got out, and that you have a team. And a good partner." He looked over to where Clint was laughing with Thor and Coulson. She followed his gaze.

"He's pretty great. Always has my back. Just like you did." She patted his right hand and stood up. "And like you always will. Like I always will."

* * *

Darcy giggled at Steve, who had now gone back to sitting next to Bucky on the couch. She imagined this is what it must've been like to see the two of them before, back when they still really were just two kids from Brooklyn. Not that they weren't still that, but so much had happened in between, innocence lost, horrors seen, that getting to see Steve and Bucky relaxed and at ease was a rare treat.

"Miss Lewis?" Coulson asked, interrupting her train of thought. He had a flush to his cheeks from the mead. She smiled. "I've come to give you your last gift."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "_You're_ my Secret Santa?" He nodded. "Awesome gifts, dude!" He smiled, which still was a bit unnerving, to see him expressing emotion so freely, but she chalked most of it up to the mead. "So boss man, how you gonna top those?"

He brought his arm up and swept it around the room. "With this. It's yours."

"Pretty sure you can't give me the Tower. As sweet as that would be, I'm guessing Tony wouldn't agree." She grinned. Steve and Bucky were still in their own world, arguing about the state of modern baseball or something, as she'd hear bits and pieces of their conversation, and phrases like designated hitter would come up now and again.

Coulson shook his head. "No, Darcy. The Avengers. As a liaison."

She let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "But what about you?"

Another smile, but this one was more in line with the ones she'd received in the past. "I'll still be around. But you've more than proven yourself as my assistant. This is something I know you can do. Plus, you already are familiar with the person who may be the newest recruit." He motioned with his head towards Bucky.

She smiled. "I think you've managed to top the other presents, Coulson. Thank you."

"No, thank you. We'll discuss this more after the first of the year?" She nodded. "I'll let you get back to these two now. It's good practice."

She leaned back into the couch, finally gaining Steve and Bucky's attention.

"So what did our favorite Agent want?" Bucky asked with a grin.

Steve reached over and started to play with Darcy's hair that had fallen out of her messy up-do. "Your hair smells good. And it's really soft."

She patted Steve on his cheek, leaning over and kissing him on the edge of his mouth. "Oh we're filming some of this later on my phone. And your hair is soft, too." She looked over at Bucky, getting his attention again. "For the record, my final gift from my Secret Santa, also known as one Phillip Coulson, was a promotion."

"No shit!" she heard Bucky say, as she looked at Steve, whose blue eyes seemed to be brighter as he smiled at her, putting his arm around her and pulled her into him. He kissed her cheek.

"Yeah. I guess I'm gonna be your new wrangler." She grinned. "At least I think that's a promotion." Bucky punched her in the arm, as Steve gave her a more proper kiss, still somewhat chaste considering where they were.

* * *

After a lovely Christmas Eve dinner, and a screening of Tony, Clint and Natasha's favorite Christmas movie, "Die Hard," everyone went their separate ways. Darcy and Steve took a cab back to his apartment, where she helped an increasingly less tipsy Steve into the elevator.

"You're not even going to be hungover, are you?" she teased, bumping her shoulder into him.

He looked down at her, smiling fondly. "Probably not. Sorry." He tried to look apologetic, but instead, Darcy thought, he looked adorable.

The elevator dinged as they reached the top floor, and the two exited. Darcy pulled out a key and unlocked his door. Steve gave her a look, and she shrugged. "I may have acquired your spare key from Bucky." She started to hand it back to him, but he shook his head. They continued to walk into the apartment, shrugging off their jackets, and he went to plug in the Christmas tree lights.

"Go ahead, keep it. I think you'll make better use of it than he would." He grinned slyly as he said this, which caused Darcy's eyebrows to shoot up.

"Why Captain Rogers, I think I know what you are implying, and while I'm shocked, _shocked_, I tell you," she paused for dramatic effect, "please, continue implying."

He walked back towards her, his face lit by the glow of the lights of the tree. "Oh, I will. But first, I have a present for you." He took her by her hands and brought her into his kitchen. She looked puzzled at first, and then his positioned her in front of the fridge where she saw the four magnets she'd given him holding up a drawing that he knew was one of his. She leaned in closer and recognized it was of her, from when they'd been at the park and she'd been imitating a statute, making Steve laugh.

"Oh Steve," she breathed, turning around to face him, "it's beautiful."

"It's easy to make it beautiful when the subject is so beautiful," he replied, for once thankful that what he wanted to say came out as he intended. He saw her eyes get shiny and brought his arms around her, pulling her close to him. "And if you'll let me sometime, I'd like to try doing another, this time not from memory."

She pulled her head back, looking up at him through wet lashes, laughing a bit. "That was from memory?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "You know, the serum and all helps with things not muscle-related, too." She grinned. "Will you stay the night again?"

She pretended to give it some thought. "I dunno, a girl could get used to this sort of thing. But only if you think it's proper and all." There was a twinkle in her eye as she looked back up at him, her arms sliding lower down his back.

"Well, I'd hope my girl would get used to it, eventually." He let her out of the hug, but kept one of his hands on hers, walking towards his bedroom. "And as for proper, well, I can't think of a more proper way to wake up Christmas morning than with the best present I could imagine right beside me."

She stopped in her tracks at his last statement, as they were just in the doorway of his bedroom. Her eyes were wide, and he was blushing. "If I didn't know you better, I'd have to applaud you for pulling that line off. But because I know you, I just have to say, that is the sweetest thing I've ever been told." She walked closer to him, hugging his arm. "Love you."

He didn't think he could smile any harder than he was at the moment. It seemed that he'd gotten everything he could've ever wanted for Christmas this year and more. He was still the man out of time, but now he had things that were pulling him forward in time, giving him ties to the future, including the beautiful, sarcastic and curvy brunette by his side now. "Love you, too, Darce."

* * *

_Author's Note:_ Hi all, sorry for the massive delay in getting this final chapter out. I got sidetracked with work and another plot bunny, and then when writing, as you can tell by the length, even this chapter got away from me! But I hope you do enjoy the final day, and thanks for sticking this story out with me. I am working on another story in this fandom, but with different characters. I will be updating the progress of it on my author bio page, so you can check that out there. I will probably also post a few drabbles here and there, so keep an eye out for those, too. Massive thanks to everyone who has read and/or reviewed this story. It means a lot to see that people have enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it.


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